Stars of Destiny - a Harry Potter fanfiction
by Faron Oakenshield
Summary: Jason Avalon is a normal kid. Or so he thinks. on his eleventh birthday, he gets a very special letter. Upon arriving at Hogwarts, on his first night, he discovers a very, very special book. Upon accidentally releasing the Clow Cards, Keroberos explains that since he freed them, he must now recapture all of them. How will Jason fare with his destiny? (Luna/OC in later chapters.)
1. Dream and Shocks

**(Hi there! A little AN to start off with. Jason is the Grandson of Sakura and Li, and, as such, has inherited their magical powers, which will later explain the reason for his magical prowess. Sakura and Li are not in this. Jason's family are my own characters - his dad, his brother, his mother, etc. The rest will be explained as the story goes on. Enjoy!)**

I stood atop the battlements of a castle, wearing a strange outfit, a golden staff in my hand, a flying stuffed animal floating near me. In the air before me were a number of cards. I was aware that, once again, I was having the same dream. As always, a book appeared. It had a brown cover with the words 'The Book of Clow' on it. Below that, a picture of a great beast snarled at me above an image of the sun. The book opened, and darkness fell over me and a strange beeping began to sound.

"Jason!"

"Argh!" I shot up with a yell, clutching my alarm clock that had, once again, fallen on top of me. One of these days I was going to have to put it on the other side of the room.

"Jason!"

"Coming!" I shouted, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I knew from experience that my older brother wouldn't shout me again, he'd simply let me be late. Climbing out of bed, my mind turned once again to that strange dream. It had been plaguing me for the past nine months now, and I still had no idea what it meant. I pulled on my clothes and ran downstairs for breakfast.

"Look who's finally up," Tony teased as I walked in, a smirk on his face as he took a sip of his coffee. "You know, Jason, you made so much noise, it sounded like a dinosaur was coming down the stairs."

"Oh, shut up." I replied, going to sit at the table.

"Hey, I'm just saying. I'm lucky, really. How many people can say they have a dinosaur for a little brother?"

"I'm not listening." I said, looking to where the picture of our mother was in its usual place. "Good morning, Mum."

My mother had been dead for a long time now. She died when I was just a baby, but Dad kept plenty of photos of her and told me lots about her so I'd never forget. She was beautiful, with dark eyes and dark hair. She had been very intelligent, kind and caring, though a little clumsy. Unfortunately, I tended to take after her in the clumsy aspect. While athletic for my age, and sporty, I could be quite the klutz, something that I was always embarrassed about.

"Stop teasing your brother, Tony." Dad said, walking over with our breakfast.

"Thanks, Dad!" I said, tucking into the pancakes and syrup he placed in front of me. My Dad was a Professor at the local University, and very well known for his work. He also worked at the library, too. Tony also worked every temp job he could find, which wasn't much, so he had a morning paper round, too, to help with bills and other things. Even though he was only seventeen, he sometimes acted a lot older, especially where I was concerned.

Finishing my breakfast, I headed out for my morning run. Although I'd finished Primary School, I liked to keep fit. Jogging on, I soon reached the snobby area that was Privet Drive. I hated the houses here, not to mention the people. All the adults - and more than half the teenagers were full of themselves. Especially the family at Number Four. I had no idea who they were, but I'd seen their fat pig of a son causing trouble more than one for the little kids. As I passed Number Four, a skinny boy with glasses came out of the front door with a bag of rubbish, dragging it to the large bin. I glanced at him, wondering who he was. I'd never seen him before.

As I watched, the fat boy came out and 'accidentally' bumped into him, knocking him over, making him drop the bag, which split open, spilling the rubbish all over the driveway. There was a furious knocking on the living room window and the fat boy's father, equally as fat, poked his red face out o the window.

"Get that mess picked up boy!" he hissed angrily. "You'll mess up Petunia's flowers and dirty Dudder's new trainers!"

With that, he slammed the window shut, along with the curtains. I was astonished. He was treating the boy like dirt when it had clearly been his own son's fault!

The fat boy walked off, out of sight, not seeing me where I was. The other boy gave a sigh and began picking up the rubbish with a resigned expression. I felt so sorry for him that without realising it, I found myself picking up some rubbish and tossing it into the large black bin. He looked up, startled.

"He is such a fat head." I said, picking up some empty tin cans. "Every time I'm around here I see him picking on the other kids. Someone should stand up to him already."

"They're all scared of him." the boy replied, finishing the rest of the rubbish removal. "Thanks, by the way."

"You're welcome. I'm Jason, by the way. Jason Avalon."

"I'm Harry Potter." he said, shaking my hand.

"Nice to meet you, Harry. Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to finish my run and get home before my family worry. See you later!"

Waving, I jogged off home, where I saw balloons tied to the gate. I stopped dead. How could I forget? It was my eleventh birthday today!

Walking inside, I found Tony in the kitchen, making another coffee.

"Wait, where's Dad?"

"He had to go to the university. They found some book that they can't open and they want him to take a look at it."

"Oh. . ." I was disappointed. Dad's work kept him busy, but I'd hoped he'd be able to be there for my birthday.

The front door suddenly clicked shut.

"I'm home!"

"In the kitchen!" Tony called.

Dad walked in, holding a wrapped package to him.

"Dad! Is that the book?"

"Yes, it is. I'm going to look at it tonight."

I nodded, just as the post came through the letter box.

"I'll get it!" Running into the hallway, I scooped up the mail and began going through it. There were three letters for Dad, two for Tony. . . and one with my name on it.

I stared in shock at the strange, emerald green writing.

MR J AVALON THE FRONT BEDROOM NUMBER TWENTY THREE STAR LANE LITTLE WHINGING SURREY


	2. Strange Letter and Shopping Trip

I stared at the letter in shock. A letter for me? It was so specific, too! It felt weird, like whoever had sent the letter knew everything about me. Did I have some kind of stalker? I hoped not.

Opening the letter as I walked into the kitchen, I began to read, tossing Tony and Dad's letters onto the kitchen table.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

 _Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_ was at the head of the letter, just below a crest of a lion, a snake, a badger and an eagle around the letter 'H'.

'Supreme Mugwump'? This had to be a prank letter. What the hell was a Supreme Mugwump?!

Deciding to at least finish the letter, I continued reading.

 _Dear Mr. Avalon,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

 _Yours Sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

Okay, this had to be a prank! A very well written and thought out prank, but a prank nonetheless. A school of witchcraft and wizardry? Me?! I couldn't even do a simple card trick!

Shaking my head at whoever had thought this prank out, I took a look at the second page, deciding to at least finish looking at the requirements.

The second page also had the letterhead that said _'Hogwarts School of Witchraft and Wizardry.'_

 _UNIFORM_

 _First year students will require:_

 _1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

 _2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

 _3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar_

 _4\. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)_

 _Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags._

 _COURSE BOOKS_ , the third page read.

 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

 _A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

 _Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

 _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

 _Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

 _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

 _OTHER EQUIPMENT_

 _1 wand_

 _1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

 _1 set of glass or crystal phials_

 _1 telescope_

 _1 set brass scales_

 _Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad_

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

I stared at the letter in disbelief. Seriously? A school of magic. Me? No, this couldn't be possible.

"Whatcha lookin' at, kiddo?" Tony said, coming up behind me to peer at the letter. "Woah, what the heck? A school of magic?"

"Oh, your letter came! I was starting to think it wouldn't." Dad said from where his head was poked into the fridge, hunting for a milkshake.

"You mean. . . this is real?" I asked slowly.

He pulled his head out and took his glasses off to wipe them, which I knew meant big news.

"Yes, Jason, it's true. You see, the Headmaster came to visit me a few months ago. He told me that your name had appeared in a special book the moment you were born, meaning you have magic in your blood. He said you are what's known as a 'Muggle Born', a wizard born into a family that does not possess their own magical abilities. Everything you've read in that letter is true, son. You're a wizard."

"I'm a w-what?" I stammered, shocked. All this was true? I was a wizard? Seriously?! Best. Birthday. Ever.

As Dad filled me in on how the Headmaster had given Dad a load of money for me, seeing as how we didn't have much, my mind began whirling as all the strange occurences that had been happening in the past year finally began to make sense. The time I'd found myself a mile away from home after getting mad at Tony for drinking all my chocolate milk and wishing I could be anywhere but where he was, the time Tony's hair had turned bright green after he teased me for sneezing three times in a row, after putting pepper in my cornflakes, and most recently, the time mum's picture had been accidentally broken. I'd been so upset, wishing it would repair itself that I simply accepted that someone was looking out for me when I found it mysteriously repaired an hour later after looking for a new frame for it.

"We'll be going to Diagon Alley next week, on the 31st." Dad said, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Diagon Alley? What a strange name!" I said. It sounded so mysterious, magical, even!

"Sounds like a maths problem to me," Tony said with a laugh. I elbowed him, almost hopping up and down in my excitement.

"It's where we'll get everything on your list. We're to meet someone called Hagrid in London. He's going to show us how to get in."

I nodded again as Dad took the mysterious wrapped book from work down into the basement library we had.

I was a wizard! I was so excited I couldn't keep still. I found myself in my room, poring over my books, some of them fantasy novels. I picked up my well read copy of The Hobbit. Would I have powers like Gandalf? I hoped so. I'd always wanted to make magical fireworks. Looking at my copy of The Lord of the Rings, I began to wonder if I'd get to fly on a giant eagle - or even better - a dragon! I gave a happy squeal and fell back onto my bed with a sigh, hugging the letter to me.

I had no way of knowing that very soon, I'd be running into Harry Potter again, nor how important his destiny was to mine, and how our two destinies would intertwine with one another. I had no way of knowing that soon, my life would change. . . forever.

A week later, on July 31st, Dad and I headed into London, while Tony went off to one of his jobs, this one at a fruit stall. Walking down a street in London, I took a look at a load of shops as we walked by, wondering where we would meet this Hagrid.

"Blimey. . ." Dad muttered to himself. I followed his gaze and saw a man three times the size of an ordinary man. He was wearing a huge, furry waistcoat and walking with a boy who looked very familiar.

"Harry!" I shouted. Harry turned and saw me and waved. I ran over, Dad following.

"Harry! Fancy seeing you down here! Who's your friend?"

"Oh, right. Jason, this is Hagrid. Hagrid, this is Jason, he's my friend."

"Oh, so ye're Jason, are ye? So you an' ye dad'll be comin' to Diagon Alley with Harry 'n' me, then, eh?"

I smiled at his way of speaking, and how his dark eyes twinkled when he spoke.

"Yeah, we are. Where is it?"

He took us into a pub that I'd not seen on my glance past. If he hadn't pointed it out, I wouldn't have noticed it at all. Dad seemed surprised to see it. As he mentioned this, Hagrid explained that only wizarding folk could see it.

The barman, a balding, stooped man looked up as we entered.

"The usual, Hagrid?"

"Can't tonight, Tom," Hagrid said, quite loudly, I thought, clapping a hand on both mine and Harry's shoulders, causing our knees to buckle slightly. "Very important Hogwarts business."

Everyone in the pub stared, and then, to both mine and Harry's shock, began coming over to shake Harry's hand, telling him what an honour it was to meet him and how delighted they were. Tom looked awed upon seeing him, and I began to wonder what the heck Harry had done to make him so famous.

As Doris Crockford shoved me aside to get to Harry for the fifth time to shake his hand yet again, I began to feel distinctly annoyed. They were treating me like a piece of furniture!

"Excuse me!" I said loudly, as someone knocked into me, hard. "I AM here you know! Harry's not the only eleven year old in the room!"

"Jason." Dad said, warningly. He didn't sound as annoyed as he usually would though. I think he felt the same way as I did.

"S-s-so s-s-s-sorry, y-young man." a man in a purple turban stammered, righting himself on a table as he rocked. Evidently, he'd be the one to almost knock me over.

"Ah, Professor Quirrel!" Hagrid said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Harry, Jason, this is Professor Quirrel. He'll be yer Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts!"

"A p-pleasure, Mr. P-P-Potter," Quirrel stammered. "C-can't tell you how p-pleased I am to m-meet you."

"So, you teach Defence, Professor?" Harry asked politely.

"Yes, f-fascinating subject. N-n-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" he replied, giving a rather nervous laugh.

Finally, we left, much to my relief, after Hagrid announced that we had to go, lots to buy. We went out onto the back of the pub, to a small courtyard area. It was tiny. Near the wall stood some dustbins. Hagrid ignored them and took out a pink umbrella. I stared as he tapped the wall in certain places with his umbrella. Making myself commit it to memory, I watched. Two across, three up, tap.

With a final 'tap', the wall split apart, creating a great archway leading to a fantastic alleyway full of all kinds of different shops. Harry, my dad and I dropped our jaws in amazement. This place was incredible!

We walked on, Hagrid pointing out shops to us all. Finally, we reached an enormous building. Hagrid explained it was called Gringott's Bank, a wizarding bank, run by Goblins. He also warned us that Goblins were very clever and smart creatures, and that you would be mad to ever try to rob the bank, as it would not end well for you. Harry and I stopped by a goblin at the door to read a plaque on the wall. I read it aloud.

"Enter stranger, but take heed, of what awaits the sin of greed. For those who take but do not earn must pay most dearly in their turn. So if you seek, beneath our floors, a treasure that was never yours, thief you have been warned, beware, of finding more than treasure there."

I shivered. It sounded ominous. Now I understood what Hagrid meant. We walked inside and I was struck by how big it was inside. We walked up to a goblin who was busy scrawling on a large pad before him and Hagrid coughed.

"We're here to enter the vault of Mr. Harry Potter, Mr. Jason Avalon and a visit to vault 713 for the you-know-what." he said.

The goblin nodded and asked for our keys. Hagrid began rummaging through his numerous pockets, pulling out dried dog food (the goblin looked disgusted at this), a handful of nuts, and finally, two keys. The goblin took us into a room that had an enormous tunnel stretching as far as the eye could see. Before us was a cart made of wood and metal, on wheels, attached to the track. It did not look at all safe, and I was very apprehensive about getting into it. Climbing into it, the cart shot off at a very high speed, at once point doing a full three hundred and sixty degree turn around the tunnel to get to a new path. Hagrid began to look a little green as we finally stopped at vault 687, Harry's vault. Opening it, Harry and I gasped at the mountains of gold, silver and bronze coins. Harry had explained that the gold ones were Galleons, the silver ones were Sickles and the bronze ones were Knuts. Strange names, I thought, but then again, pound, pence and penny were funny names, too, thinking about it.

Hagrid took a handful and put into a pouch for Harry, then we zoomed off to vault 713. Harry looked visibly disappointed when all that was in the vault was a grubby little package. I was disappointed, too. That was Hagrid's top secret business? It didn't even look important. Then again, I reminded myself, brightening a little, in the movies, it's always the small things or the least conspicuous things that turn out to be the most important. Finally, we headed off to vault 726, my vault. My dad and I gasped upon seeing the small mountain of money that was in there. Dad said he had no idea this even existed. Hagrid told us Dumbledore, who I remembered was the Headmaster, had given us all the money we needed for my school supplies and that he currently had it in a pouch in one of his pockets. He explained that this, however, had come from my mother, who had somehow known I was going to be a wizard. Since one of her friends had been a wizard, she had had the friend put gold into a vault for me over the years, until it amassed to this. Taking a pouchful, we zoomed back to the surface, my head spinning from both the extreme ride and the excitement. My mum had known I was going to be a wizard! I was going to get a wand! This was so cool!

Hagrid took Harry and I to a place called Madame Malkins, telling us to get our robes from there. He then walked off with my dad for a drink after the ride, as Dad was looking a little green, too. Walking in, the Madame Malkin, a squat witch in mauve robes hurried out and put us both on stools next to a blonde haired boy.

"Hello," he said, as Madame Malkin and another witch began pinning the robes on us to the right length. "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes." Harry and I replied in unison.

"My father's next door buying my books, and my mother's up the street looking at wands." he said. He had a bored, drawling voice, and for some reason, I disliked him immediately, which wasn't like me. I was the kind of person who always gave someone a chance first, but this guy. . I really did not like at all. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first year's can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into buying me one and smuggle it in somehow."

"Have you two got your own brooms?" he went on.

"No." we said.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No," we said. What the heck was 'Quidditch?

"I do - father says it'll be a crime if I'm not picked to play for my House, and I must say, I agree. Know what House you'll be in yet?"

"No." we replied. I didn't know about Harry, but I was feeling more and more stupid by the minute, and liking this boy less and less.

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been. Imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Mm." Harry said, looking a bit bored.

"I say, look at those men!" the boy said, nodding to the window. Harry and I looked over to see Hagrid and my father at the window, grinning and holding enormous ice cream cones, nodding at them to show they couldn't come in.

"That's Hagrid." Harry said, sounding pleased to know something this boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."

"Oh, him. I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"He's the groundskeeper." I cut in, starting to get annoyed now.

"Yes, exactly, I heard he's a sort of savage, lives in a hut on the school grounds, and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic and sets fire to his bed."

"You heard wrong then, didn't you?" I said, angry now. Who did this brat think he was?!

"Why is he with you, anyway?" the boy asked, ignoring me. "Where are your parents?"

"They're dead." Harry said shortly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Harry." I said. "I know how you feel though, my mum's dead, too. Died when I was a baby."

"Oh, sorry." the boy said, not sounding sorry in the slightest. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"

Please tell me he doesn't mean what I think he means.

"They were a witch and a wizard if that's what you mean."

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families."

As he opened his mouth to speak again, I jumped in. "Other sort? What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." he replied. "Muggle Borns."

My blood boiled.

"Excuse me?" I said, icily. "I think you'll find that I'm a Muggle Born."

"Oh, s-"

"Don't you dare give me that rubbish. You're not sorry. You're just a spoiled little brat who wants mummy and daddy to buy him everything he wants. You know something, kid? You're just not worth the time or effort. Stay away from me and Harry in school, because to be honest? I really feel like hurting you quite badly right now."

Saying this, I hopped down and left with Harry moments later as the stunned boy stood on his stool, giving me a look of intense dislike. I ignored him and walked out, taking the giant ice cream and walking with Hagrid and my dad, telling them everything.

"Ye wanna ignore people like him, Jason." Hagrid said. Harry had already told me about how his parents had died, explaining how they were killed by a Dark Wizard called Voldemort, who then tried killing Harry, only, for some reason no one else understood, his curse had backfired, killing him and leaving Harry with a lightning bolt shaped scar on his head - a scar I thought was very cool indeed. "If he'd known who ye were, Harry, he wouldn' have said any of that to ye."

"Well, he did." I said, rattled. "Little git."

We finished buying all of our things, and then went our separate ways, with me promising to write to Harry. I'd bought Harry a birthday present of some ink that changed colour as you wrote, and a nice eagle quill. In return, he'd bought me some inks that I liked the look of, too. We both had owls as pets, Harry had a snowy owl and I had a black and white owl. I named him Star, because the white spots on him reminded me of stars in the sky.

Arriving home, I was surprised to find a trunk in my room. Dad explained that it had been sent here by magic. Excited, I examined it thoroughly, becoming disappointed when it just sat there, doing nothing, despite my pointing my wand and saying Abracadabra. I put Star's cage on my table and settled on my bed to read through the course books. As I finished packing my trunk hours later, vowing to put the books in last, I fell asleep, fully clothed atop the covers of my bed. I never saw the book that dad had brought home resting on top of my TV, right above the open trunk. I never saw it fall in, causing one of my robes to cover it. I had no idea this book would change everything.


	3. A Magical Train Ride

Finally, September 1st rolled around. Harry and I had been sending one another messages back and forth by owl, and had formed a strong bond of friendship already. He'd told me how he'd made his cousin, Dudley, get stuck behind the glass at the zoo, and how a snake had spoken to him, telling him it had never been to Brazil, and that his magic must have made the glass vanish, freeing the snake. I'd told him that was about the funniest thing I'd heard in a while, and told him how I'd read all our course books so much that I knew them by heart, and had tried a few simple spells, too. I'd been shocked, but pleased to find every spell worked perfectly. I'd even tried a few spells of my own, just making them up, but nothing had happened, to my dismay.

Dad and Tony took me to King's Cross, where we ran into a puzzled Harry. He explained that he'd tried to find Platform nine and three quarters, but to no avail. As we were hunting between platforms nine and ten, we heard a woman's voice.

"Completely packed with Muggles, of course."

We both whirled round to see a plump, red haired woman with a five kids, one about our age, all bar one pushing a trolley with an owl atop it. Harry and I looked at one another in excitement and hurried over.

"Excuse me." I said politely.

"We don't know how. . .how. . ." Harry trailed off.

"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, with a smile. We nodded. "Don't worry, we'll show you."

"Thank you." Dad said. She smiled kindly at him and we watched in amazement as her twin sons were rude to her, then joked around, and finally ran right through a solid wall!

Harry and I gaped, and looking over, I saw Dad and Tony staring as well.

The others ran through, and the woman told Harry and I to go next, before Ron, who I took to be her youngest son, a tall, gangly boy.

Harry went first, and I saw him vanish right through the wall. I gasped before steeling my nerves and running full pelt towards the wall. This was stupid! I was going to run right into the wall and break every bone in my body and everyone would look over and want to know what I was thinking and why wasn't I hitting the wall yet? I gingerly opened an eye and gasped aloud. Before me was another platform, where a great scarlet engine stood waiting. A huge crowd of people milled around; parents seeing their children off, children chatting and laughing. Something hard suddenly slammed into me, knocking me over and I looked round after picking myself up to see a red faced Ron stood there with his trolley.

"Sorry." he mumbled. I grinned and waved it off and helped him move his trolley out of the way as Dad, Tony and Ron's mum and sister came through the wall. Dad stared at the train in awe.

We walked to the train, where Dad hugged me and Tony gave me a rough, one armed hug. I promised to write often, and Tony teased me, telling me not to go turning anyone into a frog. I threatened to turn him into a toad if he continued teasing. Finally, we all clambered on, Tony helping me move my trunk onto the train, as it was rather heavy.

"Be good," Tony said as the train slowly began to move. "I love y-"

The train door magically shut itself before he could finish speaking, and he settled with waving. I managed to find a window and poke my head out and wave to him and Dad.

"Have fun, Jason!" Dad called, waving with a smile.

"Don't go trick or treating too early, you hear?!" Tony shouted with a grin.

"Bye, Dad! Bye, Tony!" I yelled above the trains' whistle, waving with all my might. Finally, they were out of sight, and I dragged my trunk to where a man was waiting, and he took my trunk with a smile. I assumed he was taking it to the baggage car. I wandered down the hallways, looking for an empty compartment. Everywhere was full, and, just as I was beginning to despair, I came across Harry sat alone in a compartment. towards the back of the train.

"Hiya, Harry!" I said, opening the door. He grinned as he saw me.

"Jason! I thought you'd got lost. I tried shouting you to where I was, but you didn't hear me."

"Well, I'm here now. It doesn't feel real, does it?"

"No, it doesn't. Me, a wizard!"

"Tell me about it. I wasn't looking forward to Secondary School. Stonewall High sounded awful. I am so glad I won't have to go now."

"You were going there, too? So was I!" Harry said.

"Weird, eh?" I grinned.

The door suddenly opened and Ron stood there. "Everywhere else is full. Can I sit here?" he asked.

"Sure!" we replied.

He sat down next to Harry, opposite me and we all began talking. Ron was fascinated to hear we'd both been brought up by Muggles, and that I was Muggle Born. We, in turn, were equally fascinated to hear that he came from a wizarding family. As we were sat talking, a plump, smiling witch appeared with a trolley laden with things to eat. My stomach gave a rumble as I realised how hungry I was.

"Want anything?" Harry asked Ron.

"I've got sandwiches." he mumbled, looking away as he pulled out a dry looking corned beef sandwich. "She always forgets I don't like corned beef. She hasn't got a lot of time, you know, with nine of us."

Harry and I looked at one another and nodded. "We'll take the lot!" Harry said, pulling a handful of Galleons from his pouch. Ron gaped in amazement. The trolley woman passed us some of everything, and the compartment was soon full of an incredible amount of sweets.

"Chocolate Frogs?" I said, examining a pack dubiously. Surely, they couldn't be real frogs. Please, don't let them be real frogs!

"They're not real frogs," Ron said, causing me to give a sigh of relief. "They're just chocolate, enchanted to move around. You have to be quick and eat them though, or they'll escape. What you want are the cards inside. Famous Witches and Wizards cards. Everyone's collecting them.

Opening the package, a chocolate frog leaped at me. It looked so real I dropped it. Ron picked it up and tore a leg off and it immediately stopped moving.

"Aww, the poor thing!" I cried, staring at it.

"It's not real!" Ron insisted through a mouthful of frog. "It's just like a bar of chocolate, only it can move."

I bit into the frog's leg and was surprised, but pleased to find it was pure, silky smooth chocolate. I ate the lot and then checked my card. Merlin.

"I've got about five of him." Ron said. Meanwhile, Harry had got Dumbledore in his card. I took a look and saw a man with a large white beard and twinkly blue eyes smiling back at me. Suddenly, he winked and I gasped.

"He moved!"

"Of course he moved! They all do." Ron said.

"Well, in the Muggle world, people in photos usually stay put." I said.

"Weird!" Ron looked amazed at this. We turned our attentions to the Every Flavour Beans. I stopped trying them after I ate a dirt flavoured one. As Ron was munching on a liquorice wand, and preparing to show Harry and I a spell, a bushy haired girl opened our door.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one."

"No, sorry." I said, looking up. However, her gaze was on Ron's wand.

"Oh, are you doing magic. Let's see, then."

Ron looked taken aback but cleared his throat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!" he tapped his rat, Scabbers, with his wand. There was a flash of light from his wand, but nothing happened.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" the girl and I asked in unison.

"Well, it's not very good, is it?" she went on. "I've read all our course books by heart and even tried a few simple spells and they've all worked very well for me. Observe." Sitting opposite Harry, she pulled out her wand and pointed it at his sellotaped glassed.

"Occulus Reparo." The tape flew off Harry's glasses and vanished, and he pulled them off to stare in amazement at them, briefly revealing his scar.

"Jiminy Cricket! You're Harry Potter!" she exclaimed. "I'm Hermione Granger. . .and you are?" she asked, turning to Ron and I. Ron had the unfortunate timing to have taken a huge bite of a liquorice wand. I hoped he was going to swallow before he answered.

"Um. . . Ron Weasley." he mumbled around the chunk of food.

"Pleasure." Hermione said, not sounding like she meant it at all.

"I'm Jason Avalon. It's nice to meet you, Hermione." I said, smiling at her. She gave me a genuine smile back, then got up to leave to find Neville's toad.

"Oh," she said, stopping and turning. "You've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

Ron stared at her. He'd known because his mum had tried wiping it off but he wouldn't allow her.

"Just there." she said, indicating on her own nose before leaving.

We sat in silence, eating, before the door opened again.

"Find him, Herm - " I stopped. Stood in the doorway was Draco Malfoy, two thickset boys on either side."

"Oh, it's you. Can we help?" I asked, giving him a filthy look.

He ignored me and addressed Harry.

"They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter is here. So it's you, is it?"

Harry said nothing.

"I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." Draco said, introducing himself again.

"Yes, we heard you the first time. We weren't interested then and we're not now. Stop trying to get in on Harry's fame, you leech." I said. Ron, meanwhile, have a snort at hearing the pompous way Draco introduced himself. Draco shot him a disgusting look.

"No need to ask who you are. Red hair and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley." he spat.

"You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort., Potter. I can help you there." he said imperiously, holding his hand out.

Harry stared at it, unmoving.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." he said coolly.

Draco went slightly pink.

"I'd be careful, if I was you, Potter. Unless you're a bit more polite, you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff raff like Hagrid and the Weasleys and it'll rub off on you."

That did it. I stood up, and in one fluid motion, socked him hard in the face. There was a crunch and blood poured from his nose. He gave a surprised squeal.

"You horrible person!" I shouted at him. "Get out of here, now! Before I get really mad!" I didn't realise my wand was in my hand until it emitted sparks. Shooting me a terrified glance, Draco tore off down the corridor. His cronies, who I'd learned from his being there were called Crabbe and Goyle, gave me filthy looks.

"You get lost, too. Or do you want hexing?"

They walked off slowly and I slammed the door shut, sitting down with a thud.

"I don't know who that rat thinks he is! How dare he talk like that!"

I was livid. I could not stand bullies, it made my blood boil when people went off thinking they were above others, thinking they were better.

I didn't realise Harry and Ron were staring at me for a few moments, but eventually, I sensed they were looking and glanced up.

"What?"

"That was bloody wicked!" Ron exclaimed.

"That was pretty cool, Jason. Thanks." Harry said, grinning.

"Well, I'm sorry, but there's no way I'm going to let him get away with talking to you like that. I've been dying to punch him since we met him in Diagon Alley, anyway. He's so full of it."

The rest of the train ride was spent with the three of us laughing and joking. We soon changed into our robes and Ron explained Quidditch in full to Harry and I, and I had to admit, it did sound interesting. Flying was one thing I couldn't wait for, it sounded so much fun!

Finally, the train stopped and we all got out.

"Firs' years! Firs' years, this way!"

"Hagrid!" Harry and I chorused, grinning at him as he swung a huge lantern around, showing us where to go. He waved cheerily and took us to where a small fleet of boats were on an enormous lake.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid shouted, having taken up an entire boat himself. Harry, Ron and I climbed into a boat. Hermione climbed in with us. I was pleased to see that Draco's nose was still broken and he still had some blood on his face where he'd failed to wash it all off.

The fleet of boats set off, and Hagrid shouted that we'd be seeing Hogwarts soon.

Sure enough, moments later;

"Ooooooohhhhh!" we all gasped in awe at the enormous castle before us. Suddenly, I was struck by something. This castle. I'd seen it before, in my dreams. What did this mean?

Reaching the huge doors of the castle, Hagrid reached up and knocked three times. The door was opened by a stern looking witch in emerald green robes. She had an aura of command about her, and I immediately understood this was not someone you crossed.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid said.

"Thank you, Hagrid," she said. "I will take them from here." She suddenly gasped upon seeing Draco. "What happened to you, boy?" she demanded.

". . Fell." he muttered.

Professor McGonagall sighed and pointed her wand at his face. When I looked over, I saw all blood was gone from his face, and his face looked normal again. We all walked inside and Draco turned and shot me a glance.

Professor McGonagall began reading the rules to us all, explaining that we would all be assigned a House; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Doing well would earn us House Points. Breaking the rules would lose us points. Whichever House had the most points by the end of the year won the House Cup, a special trophy. She told us all to wait and walked off.

Draco immediately turned on me.

"You'll pay for that, Avalon." he spat.

"I'm so scared." I said sarcastically. "How about you try doing something by yourself for once, Draco, without anyone to back you up. Oh, that's right - you can't. Do me a favour, and keep out of my way. We wouldn't want you to 'fall' again, would we?"

He glowered at me as McGonagall came back in and took us into the Great Hall, and increidble room with an enchanted roof. I'd read about it. It was enchanted to show the nights sky outside.

Hermiones whispered that it was enchanted, just as I finished thinking it and I stifled a grin.

Before us sat a hat on a small stool. We all stared at it as it began singing. When it had finished, everyone clapped and McGonagall explained that when our names were called, we were to sit on the stool, place the hat on our head and be Sorted. I heard Ron whisper that his brother, Fred, had told him you had to wrestle a troll.

I eyed the hat in mounting excitement. What House would I be Sorted into?


	4. The Sorting and the Book of Clow

I watched as "Abbot, Hannah!" sat on the stool, the Sorting Hat atop her head, covering her eyes. The Hatt looked as though it was deciding a moment before roaring out "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Hannah ran off to what I gathered was the Hufflepuff table, where everyone was wearing black robes edged in yellow.

"Avalon, Jason!"

My heart slammed against my chest. This was it. I was about to be Sorted into the House I was meant to be in. I hoped it was a good one. . .

Approaching the stool, I placed the Hat on my head.

"Interesting. . . very interesting. You're very powerful for one so young." the voice sounded inside my head, and I tried not to jump. I hadn't realised the Hat could speak to your mind.

"You're going to be an easy one to place. You have a strong heart, and stand for what you believe in. There's only one house for you - GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word was a shout, and the Hall erupted into applause. I took the Hat off my head and stared at it before placing it back on the stool and running over to the Gryffindor table, where everyone was beckoning me and cheering. They were all wearing robes edged with red. I wondered where Harry, Ron and Hermione would be placed. Secretly, I hoped they were all in Gryffindor.

Soon enough, it was Hermione's turn on the stool. The Hat took a few moments before screaming out Gryffindor, and Hermione came over to us with a smile and took a seat by me.

"Well done." I said to her, smiling. She beamed back her thanks as a few more students were Sorted. Finally. . .

"Potter, Harry!"

The Hall immediately buzzed with quiet whispers. Harry really was famous, more so that I'd realised. Looking round, I saw that not everyone was looking so happy. Those wearing black robes edged with green - the Slytherins, were looking mocking, rather than surprised. Harry sat on the stool, and the Hat took quite a while with him, before deciding on Gryffindor. The whole table erupted into loud cheers, and Fred and George, Ron's twin brothers started chanting "We got Potter! We got Potter!" I didn't bother to hide my laughter as Harry came over and sat opposite me.

"Well done, Harry!" I said.

"Thanks. Well done, yourself." he said, grinning back at me.

Finally, Ron's turn came, and he, too, was sorted into Gryffindor, and took a seat next to Harry. As "Zabini, Blaise" was Sorted into Slytherin, Harry began talking with Ron's brother, Percy about the teachers, one in particular, Professor Snape, Head of Potions and Slytherin House. Suddenly the tables filled with an amazing array of food, and everyone began helping themselves. I tucked into shepherd's pie with plenty of vegetables and gravy, followed by a plateful of chicken, sweetcorn on the cob with butter and a little more gravy to dip the chicken into. I topped it all off with two helpings of chocolate cake with custard, which was one of my favourite desserts. After we had all finished, and I had taken my last drink of pumpkin juice, which turned out to be much nicer than I had been expecting, the food vanished, leaving behind empty tables.

"Now we are all fed and watered, I have a few announcements to make." Dumbledore said.

The announcements shocked me. First, he warned us all never to go into the Forbidden Forest, as it was out of bounds to all. Next, he warned us all that the third floor corridor was out of bounds to all those who did not wish die a very painful death. After that, he simply bade us goodnight. Was he crazy?

Following Percy up to the Gryffindor Common Room was a lot of fun. The stairs were incredible, the way they kept moving, and the portraits talked! I knew I was going to have a lot of fun here.

Reaching a portrait of a large woman in a pink dress, Percy stepped in front of her.

"Password?" she asked.

"The password is what you will need to get into your Common Room." Percy informed us all. "It changes from time to time, but for now, it is Caput Draconis."

"Very good." the woman said, swinging aside to reveal a hole in the wall. We all clambered through, and all of us who were new stopped and gasped. The room was large and spacious. A very comfy looking sofa and armchairs were by a crackling fire, and bookshelves adorned the room. Nearby a staircase was a blackboard, one of the ones that rotate. A small chess board was near that, along with a small bookshelf. Percy showed us all to our dormitories, small rooms containing six beds. I was informed that I would sleep here with Harry, Ron, Seamus, Neville, and Dean. My trunk was already at the bottom of my bed. As the others climbed into bed, yawning, I knew I wouldn't sleep as easily.

Soon enough, everyone was fast asleep, and I was laid awake in bed. Suddenly, I heard a noise, like the sound of running water dripping. I climbed out of bed, frowning, wondering where the noise was coming from.

As I walked past my trunk, I heard the noise even more. It was very loud now. I frowned at my trunk. What was in there that could make such a noise? Walking towards it and kneeling, I opened the lid and gasped. There was something. . . glowing inside my trunk. As I looked at it, I realised it was the book Dad had brought home from the University. How had it got in my trunk? Dad was going to be so mad!

I reached towards it and gasped as it stopped glowing the moment my hands touched it. I pulled it out and closed the case and decided to take a closer look at it downstairs in the Common Room. Unwrapping it, I stopped dead in my tracks. This couldn't be possible. This had to be a dream.

The book I held in my hands was one I was very familiar with. The Book of Clow. The book from my dreams!

As I walked into the Common Room, I wondered how to open it. As I wondered this, the lock that was on it clicked open and I gasped, almost dropping it. Opening it, I discovered that inside were a number of cards concealed inside a hollow within the book. Taking the top one out as I paced in front of the fire, I examined it.

"The Windy. . ?" I muttered to myself, staring at it. It was a large card, bigger than Tarot cards I'd seen once. It depicted a serene looking woman with her eyes closed. A moon was at the top of the card, and, at the bottom, where the words 'The Windy' were written on a scroll, a sun was poking up, bright and strong.

"Windy. . ." I said again, pacing. Suddenly, the card glowed blue and a powerful wind swept up from nowhere. I cried out as the wind picked up every card in the book and flung them everywhere. I was astonished to realise they were passing right through the walls and ceilings as if they weren't even there. After a few moments the wind died down and it was then I realised I'd been stood on some kind of magic circle. Before it faded away, I took a quick look at it. It had an enormous twelve pointed star, with a huge sun burning in the middle. On the right hand side was a crescent moon, also in a circle. I decided I quite liked it and was a little disappointed when it vanished. I sank to the floor with a sigh. Even for a magic school, this was weird. The Book of Clow lay on the floor in front of me, on its front, back and front covers facing the ceiling.

"This is too weird." I muttered. Suddenly, the book began to glow. I cried out as something emerged from the light. Before me was a stuffed teddy bear - with wings and a tail ending in a little tuft of hair.

"Thank you so much for freeing me, little boy." he said. "I have been trapped inside that book for a long time.

"A talking stuffed animal?" I wondered aloud.

"Stuffed animal?!" it cried in outrage. "My name is Keroberos, Guardian Beast of the Seal to the Clow Book!"

"You mean that book?" I asked, pointing at the book.

"Yep!" he replied with a nod. The book picked itself up to show there were no cards inside and he pointed towards it. "It's my job to look after the Clow Cards and make sure they don't escape." He was still grinning as he turned to look and realised the hollow was empty.

"Ahhh!" he screamed. "My cards! Where are my cards?! My precious cards!"

He was almost sobbing, his whole body inside the hollow now. I looked at The Windy in my hand and held it out to him.

"You mean these?"

"Oh! The Windy card! Thank you so much, little boy!" he cried, taking it from me. "So. . . where are the others?"

"Oh. . .it's a funny story, actually. See, I found the book inside my school trunk and it opened by itself. I was looking at one of the cards - that card, The Windy. . ."

"Yeah." he said, nodding for me to continue.

"I said the card's name. . ."

"Yeah, yeah." he said, nodding harder now, an expectant smile on his face as he thought I had them all with me.

". . . And they all blew away!" I finished.

"Blew away." he said laughing. I joined in and stopped when he screamed.

"Blew away?! You lost the Clow Cards?!"

"It's not like I did it on purpose." I said, annoyed. All I'd done was read out a name on a card. How was I to know?

He sighed and the book closed itself, The Windy slipping inside it. He sat on the book and closed his eyes, crossed legged and both he and the book began to glow. I sat back to watch. After a few minutes had passed, he opened his eyes and sighed.

"It's no use. I can't sense where the Cards have gone."

"I'm sorry, Keroberos." I said, meaning it. I hadn't meant for the cards to fly away.

"Well that settles it, then. You're just going to have to go find them all and bring them back." he said to me.

"Me?!" I cried, jumping up. "Why me?!"

"Because you let them out!" he retorted. "Still," he continued, musingly. "you must have extremely strong magical powers to have opened the book like that. It was sealed by an extremely powerful spell, cast by Clow Reed himself."

"Why is it so important that the Cards are returned, anyway?" I asked, sitting down on the sofa.

"Because now the Cards are free from the book's Seal, it means they're free to roam and do whatever they want. See, the Cards weren't always Cards. They used to be spirits, created by Clow Reed himself. However, they soon became too strong to control, so Clow Reed created a set of Cards to keep them all in. Now they're free, they have to be resealed back into their Card forms. That's where you come in, kid."

"Me?" I said, surprised.

"Yeah. You let them loose. Now you're the one who has to go get them back. What's your name, kid?"

"Jason."

"Okay, Jason. Go and stand over there." Keroberos pointed near the window.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

I walked over and stood by the window, facing him.

"Key to the Seal!" Keroberos cried. A magic circle appeared, the same one as before and the room faded from around us, and a small, glowing key floated up out of the lock on the book. "This boy will carry out the sacred promise. His name: Jason! Bestow upon him your magical powers! Release the power!"

I cried out as a strong wind blew me back a few steps, and the key began to elongate, becoming a short staff with the head of a bird.

"Take the staff, Jason!"

Stepping forward, I grabbed the staff in my right hand. It grew a little longer and the wind stopped.

"I name Jason: Cardcaptor!" Keroberos cried.

"Cardcaptor. . .?"

The magic circle faded as I spoke.

"Yeah. It means you're going to go out and find and capture all the Cards."

"How?"

"Okay. I'll teach you the basics. To summon the staff from the key, chant this:

'Oh key of Clow, power of magic, power of light. Surrender the wand, the force ignite. Release!' You have to make sure you say it in a commanding way, though. Let the key know you need the staff. Always finish on a strong command when you say release."

"Okay. . . that sounds simple enough."

"To capture a Card, however. . ."

I sat down and listened, the staff across my lap. It was very nice, a light golden colour, and the head of the bird looked like it was ruby coloured. I liked it.

"To capture a Card, you must face the card once you have found it and chant this:

'I command you to return to your power confined! Clow Card!" Or, you can say the name of the Card if you know it."

"Okay, I think I got all that. Now, I think I should go to bed. I have class in the morning."

As I stood up, the window blew open, letting in a fierce wind. I cried out and ran to close it.

"Jason! Wait! There's a Clow Card out there!" Keroberos cried.

I looked out and saw the biggest bird I'd ever seen flying overhead. It looked about the size of a few football fields. It was pure white, like snow.

"What IS that thing?!" I cried.

"That's the Fly Card! You have got to get out there and capture it!"

"But how? I can't leave the Common Room, or I'll get into a lot of trouble!"

As I spoke, I noticed a drainpipe not far away. I wished the staff would return to being a key so I could try climbing down. As I thought this, this staff shrunk to a key once more. This time, however, it was on a fine chain, like a pendant. I slipped it around my neck and pushed the window open fully. I stood on the windowsill and Keroberos cried out for me to be careful. He flew out after me as I inched my way to the drainpipe and began the perilous climb down. It was a long way to the ground, and very windy. I was very careful with my footing, careful not to slip. As I reached the halfway mark, both feet slipped, and, with a scream, I fell. Keroberos flew down and caught me, grabbing the back of my pajama top with his teeth, slowing my fall and dropping me gently on the ground.

"Thanks." I said, smiling at him before turning my attention to The Fly Card. It was flying overhead, letting out an incredibly loud screech as it flew.

I had an idea to stop it, but first, I had to get onto it's back. As I was pondering this, The Fly Card saw me and dived with a screech. I yelled and began to run. The giant creature landed on the ground with a huge crash. I turned to look at it and realised it's wing was slightly crooked.

"It's hurt!" I ran towards it and it looked up and uttered the cry again.

"Easy. . ." I said soothingly. "I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to help you. You're The Fly Card, right?"

The giant creature did not reply, but I sensed it knew what I was saying. I walked around to the wing and saw an enormous thorn in the wing.

"That's why you're hurt. You have a thorn! I'm going to remove it, so brace yourself, okay?"

The giant bird tensed itself slightly as I reached up and pulled hard on the thorn. The bird screamed, but I felt the thorn give way. I pulled with all my might, and it slid out in my hands. It was about as long as my arm, and I was shocked it had got in there. The cry stopped and the bird craned its neck to check out the wing, then, to my surprise, reached round and rubbed its great head against me gently. I laughed.

"Aww, he's thanking you. I think he'll come willingly now." Keroberos said, watching from near my shoulder.

"Will you come with me now, in your Card form?" I said to the giant bird. It nodded slowly and I pulled out the key from around my neck.

"Oh key of Clow. . ." the key began to glow and hovered into the air, the chain undoing itself from my neck. "Power of magic, power of light. Surrender the wand, the force ignite. Release!" the staff appeared and I grabbed it and faced The Fly Card.

"Fly Card! I command you to return to your power confined! Fly Card!" I brought the staff down, and, to my astonishment, the staff hit thin air and a glowing blue shape appeared, in the shape and size of a Clow Card. The huge bird glowed blue and was sucked into the glowing blue shape, which turned into The Fly Card, which floated over to me. Looking at it, I smiled, seeing the giant bird upon it, and the words 'The Fly' on the bottom.

"Now, sign it and the Windy card."

"I don't have a quill. I'll do it when we get back to the Common Room - if we can get back inside."

"Touch the staff to the Fly Card."

"Why?"

"Just trust me." he replied, smiling.

"Okay. . .Fly!" I said, touching the card with the staff. The staff suddenly grew wings from the head. Hopping on, I flew gently towards the window I'd come from. Flying was incredible.

"What do you think of your first flight, Cardcaptor Jason?" Keroberos asked.

"I love it! It's amazing!"

"I knew I could count on you!" he grinned.

"I didn't agree to anything yet. . . but I guess I did set them loose. Okay. You're on, Keroberos. One thing, though."

"What?"

"I'm calling you Kero. It's shorter."

"Kero? I like it!" he declared.

"Oh yeah, and no one else can know about you, or the Cards."

"No, that's true. Your magic is very powerful, far more powerful than anyone else in this place. I should know, I can sense people's magic. If anyone finds out about me and the Cards, they might try to take them from you."

I nodded as I flew through the open window and hopped off the staff, which shrunk back into a key before I closed the window.

"We better get you into bed, Jason, you've got a long day tomorrow."

"Mm hm." I agreed sleepily, going upstairs and collapsing into my bed. Kero laid down on my pillow near me and as I fell asleep, I knew that my life had forever changed - for the better.


	5. The First Day, and a few surprises

I woke the next morning, Keroberos sprawled out on my pillow, snoring quietly. I smiled and got up, closing the curtains of my bed round him and quickly dressed, my stomach growling. I took a look down my shirt at the key that nested on my chest. Last night seemed like some incredible dream, yet I knew it was real. Keroberos and the key proved that much. I slipped down into the Common Room, where I found Harry and Ron about to leave. I joined them and we headed to breakfast, then Transfiguration, where I accidentally bumped into Hermione as we were entering.

"Sorry." I apologised. She smiled at me and sat down. I took a seat next to her, chatting away about the lesson and what we were expecting. Professor McGonagall entered and began talking to us all, telling us that if we misbehaved, we would leave her class and not return, proving me right that she was not someone who you wanted to get mad. She then turned into a cat and sat on her desk, watching us. I was extremely impressed by her transformation, and knew her to be an Animagus, a witch or wizard who could turn themselves into an animal. It was an extremely difficult thing to do, and took years to learn. I wondered if Kero knew of a way for me to use my other magic to help speed it along, as shapeshifting was something I'd dreamed of as a child.

Harry and Ron suddenly burst in, panting and gasping.

"We made it!" Harry managed to get out.

I opened my mouth to correct him, when Ron spoke up.

"Yeah, can you imagine the look on old McGonagall's face if we were late?"

'Old' McGonagall transformed back, glaring sternly at the two boys.

"That was bloody brilliant." Ron observed.

"Thank you for that perception, Mr Weasley. Perhaps I should turn yourself or Mr Potter into a pocket watch? That way at least one of you would be on time."

"We got lost." Harry explained, while Ron nodded.

"Then perhaps a map?" McGonagall suggested. "I presume you don't need one to find your seats?"

The two boys took their seats, and I shook my head slowly. Transfiguration was on the first floor, one of the first rooms you came across - how could you get lost?

We resumed the lesson, which turned out to be turning a matchstick into a needle. We were told the spell and wand movement, and I looked at the tiny matchstick on the table. Turn it into a needle? I could do this! I performed the wand movement, as instructed and said the spell. To my surprise, I felt a tingling rush through me as the magic took effect. My match began to change, growing thinner and thinner, taking on a distinct silver tint until a pointed silver needle lay in front of me. I gasped, amazed with myself. I'd done it!

"Well done, Mr Avalon!" Professor McGonagall said, impressed. "Fifteen points to Gryffindor!"

Everyone stared, and Hermione beamed at me, and I spent the next five minutes helping her. By the end of the lesson, she'd almost got it; her matchstick had gone silver and pointy, almost fully into a needle. Not one other person had managed it, however. Once the lesson was over, and everyone had stopped being awed over my transformation of my matchstick, we headed to Potions.

Potions was very interesting. The classroom was quite dark, though. Professor Snape began calling out our names.

"Jason Avalon."

"Here." I spoke, my eyes scanning the room in excitement, wondering what we'd learn. Since it was our first time, it would probably be something simple.

He continued until he reached Harry.

"Harry Potter. Our new. . .celebrity." His tone was mocking, and I frowned, as Draco smirked.

"Tell me, Potter," he said, suddenly. "what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Hermione's hand shot up. I knew the answer, and was surprised to see Harry shake his head silently. How could he not know? It made the Draught of Living Death! It's a potion that puts the drinker into a sleep so powerful that they appear to be dead. Like in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Only the apple got stuck in her throat, and the Prince's kiss - more like shoving his tongue down her throat - dislodged it, waking her.

"You don't know?" Snape said softly. "Well let's try again. Where, Mr Potter, would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?"

That was an easy one! A bezoar is a stone found in the stomach of a goat, which was good against a lot of poisons! Harry had to know this one, it was in our course books!

"I don't know, sir."

I had to hold back from facepalming, and demanding to know what Harry had been doing with his books, because he certainly hadn't been reading them properly.

"And what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"I don't know, sir."

Oh, come on, Harry! I thought. Monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite! You've got to know this one, at least!

"Pity, clearly, fame isn't everything, is it Mr Potter?"

Okay, that was going a bit far.

"Clearly Hermione knows. Seems a pity not to ask her." Harry snapped, as Hermione almost stood up, her hand pointing high at the ceiling.

Everyone laughed, except for me, Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Silence." Snape snapped. "Put your hand down you silly girl. For your information, asphodel and wormwood create a sleeping potion so powerful that it is known as the draught of living death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and can cure most poisons. Monkswood and wolfsbane are the same plant which go by the name of aconite."

"Well, why aren't you all copying this down?" he suddenly snapped. I'd already copied the lot down, having already memorised it a while back.

He strode to his desk and sat down. "And Gryffindors. Note that five points will be taken from your House, for your classmates' cheek."

Woah, five House Points?! This guy was serious. The lesson ended after we finished our potion to cure boils, which was really easy, and lots of fun. Afterwards, I headed to the Great Hall for break with everyone else. Seamus Finnegan was sat by himself, his wand over a goblet of water, whacking it.

"Eye of rabbit, harpstring hum, turn this water into rum!" he intoned, whacking his goblet again. That spell was going to backfire, I could sense it. As I came to that realisation, I did a double take. Since when could I sense magic, and it's effects? As Seamus chanted his spell again, there was a small explosion, and a cloud of black smoke covered him, leaving his hair stood on end and a very sooty face.

I laughed, feeling a little unnerved by how I'd sensed the magic. I ran off, telling the boys I'd meet them in Flying Lessons, which I looked forward to and took myself off to the dormitory, where I found Kero sat on my bed, reading one of my schoolbooks.

"Kero!" I cried, running in and diving onto my bed. "Something's wrong!"

"Aaaah!" he cried, sent flying from the force of me leaping onto the bed. "Don't do that!" he said, hovering in the air after righting himself. "What's wrong, did you find another Clow Card?"

"No, but something's weird! I can sense other people's magic! Seamus was doing a spell in the Great Hall, and I sensed it was going to backfire and it did!"

He seemed unsurprised.

"I'm not surprised," he said. "Your magic is very powerful. I'd be more surprised if you couldn't sense their magic, you know."

"So, this is normal, then?"

"Oh yeah. You have nothing to worry about, Jason." he said, smiling.

I gave a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Kero. I have to get to class now, or I'll be late."

I waved goodbye as I tore off to Flying lessons, my heart thumping in excitement. I was going to get to fly again!

I followed the path outside to the large clearing where everyone was waiting, including, I noted with distaste, the Slytherins.

I walked over and stood next to Hermione, who was next to Harry. The broom near me wasn't the nicest of brooms, but I got a very nice feeling from it. I couldn't wait to get on and take off.

"This will be easy," Draco drawled. "I've been flying for years."

"Good afternoon, class." a voice barked. I looked over to see Madame Hooch, the flying instructor stood there, a broom in hand and goggles over her eyes.

"Good afternoon, Madame Hooch." we all chorused.

"Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well? What are you all waiting for? Everyone step up to the left side of their broomsticks. Come on now, hurry up!"

We all hurried to obey. For me, it was easy - I simply stepped over my broomstick to the other side.

"Stick your right hand over your broom and say 'up!'" she barked.

I held my right hand over my broom. "Up!" The broom flew into my hand immediately and I grinned. I'd known that was going to happen. I couldn't wait to fly on it!

Harry's and Draco's had done the same, and I saw Draco give a pleased smirk as he gazed at his broom.

Madame Hooch took a look round and nodded, pleased. Ron and Hermione, however, were not faring so well. Hermione's was rolling around on the ground, and Ron's had smacked him hard in the nose.

Finally, after some time, everyone had managed to get hold of their brooms.

Madame Hooch nodded again.

"Now, once you've got hold of your brooms, I want you to mount it. Grip it tight, you don't want to be sliding off the end."

We all mounted our brooms, and I felt my body tingle with excitement. I'd loved flying last night, and I really hoped this time would be as much fun.

"When I blow my whistle, I want you to kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, and then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle. . . three. . . two. . . one." The whistle blew, and immediately, Neville took off, soaring much higher than we'd been told.

"Mr Longbottom, what are you doing?" Hooch asked.

Neville suddenly began soaring away. He'd lost complete control of his broom.

"Neville!" I shouted. "Pull back slightly, and lean gently to the right! Quickly!"

I saw his face contort with fear as he attempted to do what I was telling him to, and then suddenly, he was zooming towards us. I tried to grab him as he zoomed past, but he slipped right through my fingers.

Hooch was panicking, I could see it in her eyes. This had never happened before. Neville cried out as his broom began bouncing him off the castle walls, into statues. I heard something snap and his face went white. His broom bounced him into a wall again, and, as though in slow motion, I saw him start to fall. Reacting purely on instinct, I kicked off from the ground, hard and tore along the ground, rising to meet him, catching him as he fell. Everyone gasped, and I felt the broom sinking much quicker than I would have liked. I needed some help; some way to get us to the ground safely without either of us getting hurt. Something like a slide of some kind, but where would I get a slide? I whipped out my wand and stared at it, feeling the magic coursing within me. The magic knew what I needed, as did my wand. All I had to do was. . .

I pointed my wand below us as we fell, and a stream of ice poured from my wand, creating a slide to the ground. We hit it and slid safely to the ground below. Everyone stared, until Neville began whimpering in pain.

"Are you okay, Neville?" I asked, looking at his pale face, the hot tears that threatened to spill out.

Madame Hooch was the first to break out of her stare and run over.

"Looks like a broken wrist." she muttered. She stood, helping Neville stand and looked to me. "We'll talk later. The rest of you, stay put while I take this boy to the Hospital Wing. Anyone who flies on their brooms will be out of here faster than you can say 'Quidditch.'" Her voice softened. "Come on, dear, let's get you to the Hospital Wing. Carefully, now."

She walked off with Neville and I turned to find the whole class staring at me.

"What?" I found my voice.

I followed their gazes to the ice slide. "Oh. That."

"Hey!" Draco's voice broke the silence. "Look what Longbottom dropped."

He'd found Neville's Remembrall.

"Give it here." Harry said quietly. The class, which had started talking again, fell silent at his words.

"I think I'll leave him it to find somewhere - how about on the roof?"

"Give it here!" Harry yelled.

"Come fetch it!" Draco replied, soaring off on his broom. Harry followed, amidst yells from Hermione that he would get into trouble. I followed, this time actually getting to feel the fun of flight once more, now I wasn't trying to save a friend. Draco stared as Harry and I faced him on our brooms.

"Hand it over, Draco." I said quietly.

"You want it?" he replied. "Catch it then!" He threw it hard into the air and flew to the ground, laughing. I took off after it and caught it as it fell towards me. I looked down to find Harry very far away indeed, as was the ground. I wasn't afraid though, as I'd flown much higher the night before using Fly. I threw the Remembrall to Harry, who missed - just as McGonagall came into the courtyard. Harry took off after it and caught it inches from the ground and rolled off his broom and stood up amidst cheers from the class. I took off for the ground also, landing smoothly and feeling a little proud of myself. That feeling faded when I saw McGonagall furious face.

"Never in all my years - could have broken your necks!" she spluttered out.

Uh oh.

"Both of you! Follow me, at once!" she commanded. Harry and I shared a miserable look and followed her, despite everyone trying to protest against our getting into trouble.

She stopped outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and poked her head in.

"Professor, may I borrow Wood a second?"

Wood? Were we going to get beaten? The look in Harry's eyes said he shared the same thought.

Wood, however, turned out to be a tall, burly fifth year, who peered at the two of us closely.

"Wood. I've found you a Seeker and a Chaser." McGonagall said.

A Chaser and a Seeker? We were going to play Quidditch? I was totally lost by this point, as Wood grinned in excitement, his eyes lighting up.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Potter caught this thing from fifty feet. I saw Avalon fly as high as Gryffindor Tower and toss it to Potter. They're both perfect."

Wood became very excited. I couldn't believe it. Instead of getting into trouble, we'd both got places on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. This was unreal.

As Wood walked back to class, grinning, McGonagall turned to us and smiled.

"Do try and win the Quidditch Cup for us, won't you? Or else my change my mind about punishing you two."

She smiled at Harry. "Your father would have been very proud of you. He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."

Harry and I left her to it, after she told us both we were the youngest Chaser and Seeker in about a century.

"I can't believe this!" I said to Harry. "We're going to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team!"

The two of us went to find Ron, who was awed over this new turnout. We were told by Wood to meet him at the weekend to practise our Quidditch skills.

That evening, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I were all walking back towards the Gryffindor Common Room, and Ron was telling Harry how spooky it was that Hermione knew more about him than he did himself. Harry retorted that everyone knew more of him than he did. I laughed, looking round as the stairs suddenly began to move. They always did this, but had never done it when I was on them before. I wasn't sure I liked the feeling. It was like being in a lift; your stomach fell away from you.

The staircase came to a stop, and Harry walked off, saying to move before the staircase decided to move again. None of us argued. We walked through the door in front of us and came to a rather dark corridor.

"Does. . . anyone else feel like we shouldn't be here?" Ron said in the gloom.

"That's because we shouldn't," Hermione said. "This is the third floor corridor. It's forbidden."

Oh dear. . .

Suddenly, a torch blazed into life, at the same moment that Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat came in. She looked at us and meowed.

We looked at one another and ran for it, torches lighting themselves as we passed. We came to a door, and Ron tried it as we heard Filch ask his cat what was wrong, and his footsteps began to walk near us.

"It's locked! We're done for!" Ron moaned.

"Oh, move over!" Hermione snarled, pushing past him. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at the lock. "Alohomora!"

The door clicked open and we hurried in.

"Alohomora?" Ron asked.

"Standard Book of Spells. Chapter Seven." I informed him.

Filch walked right past the door, and, as his footsteps faded, the back of my neck began to prickle. Something wasn't right.

"He thinks this door is locked." Ron said.

"It was locked." Harry reminded him. "With good reason."

We all turned to see the biggest three headed dog I'd ever seen in my life, and I'd seen all the old movies about Greek myths, with Cerberus. This dog was a Cerberus if I'd ever seen one. It was also the cutest thing I'd ever seen, and I immediately found myself wanting to fuss it. Right up until the moment it woke up and started growling and looked at me like I was a tasty treat.

The others gasped.

"Good dog." I said, albeit quite nervously. "Nice dog. Walkies?"

It barked and we all screamed and ran for it. As we made our way towards the Common Room, two things hit me. One, the dog had been stood on a trapdoor, and two, when I'd said walkies, it's tail had wagged a little.

As we all stood in the Common Room, on the stairs leading up to the dormitories, Ron spoke up, wondering what it was doing in the school. Hermione was more concerned with the trapdoor, whereas Ron was more concerned with it's three heads.

"It was obviously guarding something." Hermione said.

"Guarding something?" Harry said. I knew he was thinking about the package from vault 713. I'd been thinking the same thing. It made perfect sense.

"That's right. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to head to bed before either of you three comes up with another clever idea to get us killed, or worse. . . expelled."

With that, she flounced off. Ron stared after her before turning to Harry and I.

"She needs to sort out her priorities." he said. I laughed and headed to bed with them, to find Kero waiting for me.

Harry and Ron were soon fast asleep, their breathing light and easy, joining Seamus' light snores, and Neville's small whimpers as he dreamed. Dean was the quietest one of them all; he barely made a sound.

"So, Jason, where's my food?" Kero whispered.

Oh no. I'd forgotten to bring Kero some food up!

"I'm so sorry." I whispered. "I got caught up in things." I filled him in on Flying Lessons, my magic acting how it did, the strange ice slide, and the three headed dog.

Kero nodded. "As I've said. Your magic is very, very powerful, and different to wizarding magic. You can do things no one else here can. That slide of ice was your magic channeling through you in response to your wishes. You needed a slide, and you got one. As for that three headed dog. . . that is a pretty weird thing to keep in a school. Now. How about my food?"

I sighed.

"I know where the kitchens are. I asked Fred and George earlier. Let's go, but we have to be careful. If we're caught, I'll get detention and Gryffindor will lose a lot of points."

"Isn't there an invisibility spell you can use, or something?" he asked.

"There is, but it's very advanced."

"Well, with your magic, I don't see why you can't cast it. What is it?"

"All I know is it's called the Disillusionment Charm. I read about it in the library."

"Do ya remember how to do it?"

"Yes. I tap myself with my wand and say the spell."

"Well, go for it! Oh, before you do, take the Cards with you - just in case we come across a Clow Card." Kero advised.

I opened my drawer and took out the Clow Book and took the Cards out of it. Slipping them into my pocket, I pulled out my wand and lightly tapped myself on the head. As I thought of the incantation, I opened my mouth to say it when Kero cut across me.

"Very nice!" he said. "If I couldn't sense magic, I wouldn't even know you were there!"

"Huh?" I said, confused. I hadn't even cast the spell yet. I walked over to the window and gazed into it, searching for a reflection. There was none. Somehow, I'd cast the spell without speaking.

Kero fluttered over and landed on my shoulder. Stowing my wand away, I left and began making my way down to the dungeons, where the entrance to the kitchens was located.

As we arrived in the Entrance Hall, I stiffened, as did Kero. Something felt. . . off about the place.

"There's a Clow Card nearby!" Kero said. I closed my eyes, trying to feel it. As I allowed my senses to roam the room, I suddenly felt it. There was a Clow Card nearby. The problem was, I now had to capture it as quietly as possible.

I walked forward, keeping my senses out. It suddenly occurred to me that I was going to need my staff to capture this card. I pulled the key from around my neck and let it dangle from my fist.

"Oh key of Clow," I muttered quietly. "Power of magic, power of light. Surrender the wand, the force ignite. Release!"

The key elongated, becoming the staff the moment my hand grasped it. As I quietly walked down the steps into the main part of the Entrance Hall, by the Great Hall doors, I suddenly heard something. Turning, I saw a halberd flying towards me, the blade glinting in the soft light from the dimly lit torches that adorned the walls here and there. I gasped and dodged. It struck the wall with a very loud ringing sound and I winced. So much for trying to be quiet. A double headed axe came at me next, and I ducked again. Suddenly, a gargoyle statue came flying at me.

"Oh sure, just throw me around! Not like I have something to do anyway!" it called as it flew past me, crashing against the wall where it thudded to the ground. "I'll just lie here then, shall I? Don't bother to pick me back up or anything."

I rolled my eyes and suddenly gasped as an entire suit of armour came revolving slowly through the air. Looking at it, I gasped again, seeing that there was a shadow holding the shadow of the suit of armour. This shadow, however, had no body attached to it.

"Of course!" Kero burst out into the quiet, startling me. "It's the Shadow Card!"

"The Shadow Card?"

"The Shadow Card is a very powerful Card. It can control shadows completely. With how it is right now, I'm going to take a guess and say it's taken the shadows of everyone in the entire school!"

"Wha - the entire school?" I burst out. "But that's so many!"

"Yeah. The only thing you can try to do is create some light if the shadows attack you."

I dodged the armour and ducked into the Great Hall. There was a great pool of darkness swirling in the middle of the room.

"I knew it. That pool is the combined shadows of everyone in the school. You're not going to capture this Card unless you get rid of them all."

"But how?"

"Light."

I wracked my brains as I used Fly to fly over the pool, which reared up and tried to attack me. As I dodged, I realised I did know a way to create light, but would it be enough?

"Lumos!" I cried, pulling out my wand. The light from my wand drove away the shadows somewhat, but not enough.

"LUMOS!" I screamed, putting everything I could into it. The light from my wand grew even brighter, and the pool dissipated completely. Kero suddenly pointed.

"Look! It's the Shadow Card in it's true form!"

I looked down to see a hooded figure walking away from us. I flew down to the ground and it turned. I gasped. It reminded me of the Grim Reaper. I couldn't even see it's face. It pointed it's arm at me and it shot off, hitting the ground near me, reforming before taking another shot. I hopped off my staff and silently commanded it to return to being a normal staff. The wings shrunk and vanished and I pulled out the Windy Card, tossing it into the air.

"Windy! Form a chain and tie Shadow up!" I commanded. "Windy! Release and dispel!" Smacking my staff down onto the Windy Card as it floated down near the staff, I watched as Windy flew out of the card and began wrapping herself around Shadow, tying him up. He struggled to get free, but to no avail. Kero had told me the reason I had to say what I had just said was so the card knew I wanted it to perform a specific action. He told me that most of the time, if I simply held the card and thought of what I wanted it to do, all I had to do was call it's name, then say 'release and dispel' and it would do what I wanted. It was quite cool, really. I faced the struggling Shadow.

"Shadow! I command you to return to your power confined! Shadow!" I shouted, bringing my staff down hard. Shadow began to be sucked into the space where his Card would be, and it was then that I noticed the Great Hall doors were open - and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall were stood there, watching the whole thing.


	6. Explanations, and strange happenings

"Way to go, Jason! You captured the Shadow Card!" Kero cheered flying over to me. I simply stared at the Professors, who stared right back.

"What is the meaning of this?" Dumbledore asked. He didn't sound mad. More curious than anything. I was surprised. I thought I'd be in a lot of trouble.

"Why have you enchanted a stuffed bear, Mr Avalon?" McGonagall asked. "And what are you doing out of bed at this hour? It's way past curfew. You know the rules."

"Stuffed bear?" Kero exclaimed in outrage. "I am Keroberos, Guardian Beast of the Seal of the Clow Book and Protector of the Clow Cards!"

"I think you have some explaining do to, Mr Avalon." Dumbledore said. "Follow me, please."

As I followed him, I reflected upon the fact that he could at least have called me by my name. He did with Harry, even if Harry was in trouble.

Walking into his office, I looked round in awe. It was incredible, and, to top it off, a phoenix atop its perch blinked at us as we entered.

I sat down before him, looking at him, the key around my neck, the Shadow Card still in my hand.

"Explain." he said.

Kero fluttered to the desk as I began talking, explaining how when I'd got my letter, my dad had got a phone call from the University, saying they'd found a book no one could open. He'd brought it home, wrapped up, and it had found its way into my trunk and I'd brought it to Hogwarts. I explained about my recurring dreams of the Clow Book before I found it, and Kero jumped in at this point, startling me. I'd almost forgotten he was there, I'd been so lost in explaining.

"Actually, you don't have normal dreams like everyone else." he explained. "Every time you dream, you see a glimpse of the future, of things yet to come."

"Wait, so I can see the future now?"

"You've always been able to see the future, Jason."

I sat and processed that until Dumbledore told me to continue with my story.

"Oh, sorry, Professor. Anyway, I found the Book on my first night here, and I was walking with it when it unlocked itself."

"That's because it sensed how powerful your magic was."

Taking that in stride, I continued.

"I looked at the first Card, the Windy Card, and said her name." I pulled Windy out and shows her to him. He looked at her wordlessly before handing her back to me.

"A magic circle appeared and all the cards, except for Windy blew away, and then Kero appeared."

"I see." he said quietly. "And you were in the Great Hall near midnight because. . .?"

"Kero was hungry, and I'd forgotten to bring him something to eat. We were on our way down to the kitchens when Shadow attacked."

"See, as Cardcaptor, Jason has a responsibility to capture all the Cards." Kero explained.

"What I don't understand is how you saw me. I had a Disillusionment Charm on myself."

"Oh yeah, that wore off when Shadow attacked." Kero said casually.

"Kero! If I'd know that I would have cast it again!"

"You can cast a Disillusionment Charm?" Dumbledore asked sharply.

"Yes. . . why?"

"You don't learn that spell until your sixth year. How did you come across it?"

"Oh. I was reading some books in the library and I found it and memorized it."

"AND he cast it without a word." Kero added proudly.

"You cast a non verbal spell?" Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up. I knew it was a shock, casting a non verbal spell, but. . . was it really that big of a deal? I was willing to bet plenty of people could do it.

"Jason. Do you have any idea how rare this is?" he said.

"Rare?"

"Jason, in all my years, I have never seen anyone in their first day or two at Hogwarts cast such advanced magic - and non verbally, too. How long has this been going on?"

"I've only done it twice, so far. Once during Flying Lessons, and tonight." I admitted.

"Ah, yes. Madame Hooch did tell me about that. She wants to see you in the morning."

My heart sank.

"For now, go back to bed. We'll discuss this more in the morning."

"Yes, Professor." I left the room, Kero hanging onto my shoulder, grouching about missing his dinner. McGonagall stopped me and took us into her office, handing a very appreciative Kero some biscuits. He munched the lot while McGonagall sat me down and began discussing magic with me. I learned a lot, and by the time she was finished, ten minutes later, it made me all the more determined to put everything I could into my studies.

That night, I went to bed with a smile on my face, wondering what the morning would bring.

The next morning found Harry and I at the Quidditch Pitch, being taught the ins and outs of the game. As Wood finished explaining things to us, Harry and I walked back towards the castle, stopping by the lake to sit down and chat. It was at that moment that I sensed a Clow Card. It was very close by, but I was unable to tell exactly where it was coming from.

"I'm going to go get something to eat. Coming?" Harry asked.

"Uh. . . yeah, I'll meet you there soon. I wanna. . . enjoy the view a little longer." I said, rubbing the back of my head and grinning nervously. I was hoping he wouldn't notice anything wrong.

"Okay. See you later." he said, walking off.

I let out a sigh and stood. "Alright, Clow Card! Reveal yourself!" I commanded. Nothing happened. I summoned the staff and began walking towards the lake, following the sense of magic. As I neared the lake, the water reared up and yanked hard on my ankle. I screamed as I was pulled down to the ground, and then slowly pulled towards the lake.

"KERO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "HEEELP!"

The tentacle of water tightened its grip and began pulling a little harder. If it kept this up, I'd be drowned within minutes. I didn't want to die!

"JASON!" Kero shouted, flying over and grabbing my sleeve in his teeth and hauling with all his might.

"Kero, I'm scared! What Clow Card would do this?"

He let go momentarily as he sensed the Card. "Oh! It's the Watery Card! It's one of the four Elemental Cards, and is very, very powerful."

"That's wonderful to know. How do I capture it!"

"Use your head, Jason! The Watery Card is very sneaky and stealthy! You'll have to trick it into showing it's true form before you can capture it."

I thought quickly before spinning so I was laid on my back, facing the water.

"Watery Card! I know you're in there! Show yourself. . . unless you're scared!"

"THAT'S your big idea?"

"I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas, Kero!" I retorted.

The surface of the water began bubbling furiously and Kero gasped.

"It's working!"

A figure rose from the water, formed of the water itself. A girl glared at me from her spot above the water.

"It's the Watery Card!" Kero shouted, pointing at her.

"I noticed!" Watery! I command you to - woah!"

As I was about to Seal the Card, she dove for me, forcing me to move out of the way.

I needed to contain her so I could Seal her - and I knew just the Card.

"Shadow! Form a sphere around Water and restrict her movement! Release and dispel!"

Shadows flew from the tip of my staff, forming a large, impenetrable black sphere around the Watery, who struggled to break free, but it was no use.

"Alright! Watery! I command you to return to your power. . confined!" I roared, bringing the staff down. The Card floated into the air and down into my waiting hand. I sunk to my knees with a sigh.

"Is every Card capture going to be as difficult as this?" I wondered.

"Of course not!" Kero replied.

I smiled.

"Some will be much more dangerous and difficult." he continued, wiping the smile from my face.

"Great." I said, putting the key around my neck once it had reverted. "Just great. So I'm risking my life to capture these, huh?"

"With good reason! Jason, the Cards are containers for the spirits. The spirits are very, very powerful, you know. Without being contained, they would cause chaos everywhere, and you'd be the only one capable of stopping them!"

"Oh. I didn't know that. Kero, you should really start explaining these things to me."

On the way back to school, Kero filled me in on the relationships between the Cards. He explained the four Elemental Cards, the most powerful, were Windy. Watery, Firey and Earth. He explained that each card had many Cards tied to its power, and could draw strength from them to increase it's own power. I was fascinated by all this and drank it all in. However, as we neared the school, a thought occurred to me.

"Kero. You've been inside the Clow Book for a long time, right? So you must have had more than one Master. What happened?"

Kero fell quiet at that.

After a few moments, he began speaking. "Clow Reed was the creator of the Clow Book and Clow Cards. He created the Cards when the spirits became too violent and started causing chaos everywhere. Clow Reed also created me as well as the second Guardian of the Clow Cards, who you will meet later. Clow Reed eventually died, but not before closing the Seal on the Book, and putting me inside it. I fell asleep without meaning to for about thirty years. When I woke up, I was face to face with a girl about your age. She'd opened the Seal, like you did. Her name was Sakura. Sakura Avalon."

I gasped at the name.

"But that. . . that was my grandmother!"

"That explains why your magic is so very powerful, then. Sakura had powerful magic, and it grew stronger every single day. When she became Mistress of the Clow Cards, she changed them all into Star Cards, so the Cards would draw strength from her magic, not Clow Reed's. Before she died, she made me promise to be a good friend to the next Master or Mistress. I think she knew it was going to be you, though. She woke up one night and said the next Master would be a boy named Jason, and that his magic would be as powerful as hers was at that moment in time."

"Wow. . ."

"At that moment in time, Sakura Avalon was the most powerful sorceress in the entire world. She had been for over fifty years."

I gasped again. Grandma Sakura had been the most powerful sorceress in the world? Woah.

"Do you understand, Jason?"

"I think so. It means I'm pretty powerful right now. Right?"

"That's right. I have no idea how powerful you'll grow up to become, but right now, you're the most powerful person in this whole school."

"Awesome. . ." I breathed.

I ran off to where Harry was getting a bite to eat, then headed to Charms for more wand flicking, in practise for a levitation spell.

The next day, I was brewing up a potion in Potions class, when Ron accidentally jostled me, causing me to put far too much lacewing flies in. The cauldron began to bubble ominously and I backed away. Suddenly, it exploded, and I yelled and ducked for cover. Snape came over and glared at me.

"What do you think you are playing at?" he demanded icily.

"It was an accident, Professor," I explained. "My hand slipped when I was putting the lacewing flies in."

"So I see." he replied, waving his wand over my cauldron and causing the entire thing to vanish. "Twenty points from Gryffindor."

"But -"

"And another ten for answering back."

I fell silent, fuming. I hadn't even meant to do anything! Ron had nudged me!

"Sorry." Ron whispered. I ignored him, angry with him, with Snape, and with myself. The rest of the day seemed to get worse and worse. I was tripped in the corridors by the Slytherins, I lost a library book, and Madame Pince took ten points from Gryffindor for it, and, to top it all off, at dinner, I spilt pumpkin juice all over my bag, ruining the ton of homework I'd spent many careful hours getting just right. I went to bed that night feeling very upset indeed, wishing that I could relive the day and make it better, somehow. That was impossible though, without a Time Turner, and you had to get very special permission to use one of those from the Minister for Magic himself.

As I slept that night, the clock struck midnight. . . and began to rewind.

I woke the next morning, had a big stretch and dressed, then headed down to the Common Room, where I found my bag. I frowned. I could have sworn I'd left it by my bed last night. I opened it, and, inside was all the homework that had been ruined the night before, looking as though I'd just finished writing it. I gasped in surprise. How had this happened?

"Good morning, Jason." Hermione said, walking in.

"Morning, Hermione. Look! My homework's good as new now!"

"Of course it is. You only finished writing it all last night." she said.

"Last night? Come on, Hermione. You know for a fact it all got ruined last night, at dinner. I split pumpkin juice all over it!"

"No. . . last night, at dinner, you were busy finishing your research for History of Magic." she replied, giving me a funny look.

As we left for breakfast, I found my head swimming with questions. Just what was going on? It was like. . . I gasped as it hit me. It was like the day was being repeated! But why was I the only one who could sense it?

I was determined to change how the day went this time. I wasn't going to be nudged in Potions, and I wasn't going to spill pumpkin juice on my homework!

Arriving in Potions, the lesson played out exactly as before, including, to my dismay, the explosion. This time, however, not only did I lose points, but I also got detention.

I went to bed that night dismayed. The whole day had gone worse than before. The only highlight was that I didn't spill juice on my homework.

When I woke the next morning, my bag was gone from the end of the bed where I put it. I went downstairs and saw it laying on the armchair, just like before. My stomach bubbled with excitement. The day was repeating again!

This time, in Potions, I leaned away from Ron as his arm came up, successfully dodging it. I grinned as I finished it and put it on Snape's desk, then left for break. Today was going to be amazing! As I was in the Clock Tower courtyard, I looked up, it hit me that I'd not explored it fully yet. As I walked over to the steps leading up, I suddenly sensed a Clow Card. Running upstairs to where the clock ticked away, I sensed it stronger than ever. The Clock Card? No. Maybe. . . The Time Card? I was going to talk to Kero.

I quickly made my way to the dormitory and pulled him aside.

"The Time Card? Yeah, that's a Clow Card. You're right, Jason. It's what's been making the day repeat itself again and again. It activates at midnight, reversing time. It'll keep doing it until you capture it."

"So, I have to wait until midnight?"

"Unless you can make it show itself sooner, yeah."

I headed down to Transfiguration, trying to think of a way to make the Card show itself. McGonagall noticed I was spacing out, and asked me to stay behind after class.

"What's wrong with you today, Mr Avalon? Is it. . .one of those Cards?"

"Yes. It's called the Time Card. It's been making this day repeat itself. It's done it three times so far, and every night, at midnight, it rewinds time again. I have to find a way to stop it before it does it again."

"Then you'd better get to it then, hadn't you?" she replied. "I will inform Professor Quirrel that you will not be attending class today."

I thanked her and ran for the clock tower, just as the clock was striking two in the afternoon. I had ten hours to find the Time Card and seal it.


	7. Time's capture, and a shock!

My feet pounded the stairs of the Clock Tower, my breath coming out in ragged gasps. I'd run the whole way from the first floor, and it was much further than I thought it was.

The clock had long since finished striking the hour when I arrived, and was on its way to being ten past the hour. I stood and watched the clock ticking. Two agonizing minutes passed. I let out a groan of frustration.

"Alright Time Card! Come on out!" I commanded. I sensed the presence stronger than ever and whirled round, trying to find it. As the clock struck a quarter past the hour, I sensed the Card far stronger than before. I whirled round to see a form taking shape on one of the cogs of the huge clock. I watched as the form of an old man in a cloak with an hourglass in his hands appeared. I knew immediately that this was the Time Card, and from the sense I was getting, it was very powerful.

I summoned my staff and raised it above my head.

"Time Card!" I cried.

Time looked up, a single eye glinting at me from under the cloak. It was rather eerie. Shaking it off, I prepared to Seal the Card and continue this day and have it end without repeating itself.

"Return to your power conf -!" Before I could finish the sentence, Time turned the hourglass upside down, once. The room began to dissolve around me.

I woke up in bed with a gasp. How had I got here? I looked at my watch and was dismayed to see it was eight in the morning. Time had rewound again! Hadn't it? Or had Time put me into the future? I ran downstairs, stopping as I saw my bag on the chair. Looking inside, I saw the homework that had been in there every other time. That confirmed it for me. The day was repeating itself again.

Grabbing my bag, I tore out of the room and to the Clock Tower, arriving at a little before half past eight. I looked through the Cards I currently had. Fly, Shadow, Watery. I looked at my own shadow, and it suddenly hit me. Shadow could control shadows. . . so maybe it could make mine bigger, and I could capture Time from a safe distance! Well, it was worth a try, and right now, it was the best I had.

Running down towards the fifth floor corridor that led into the Clock Tower itself, I faced the Clock and summoned my staff.

"Shadow!" I commanded, tossing the Card into the air. "Make my shadow bigger so I can capture Time!"

The Card glowed and Shadow flew out of it and into my shadow, which was facing away from the tower and into the corridor. My shadow moved of its own accord and turned to face the clock tower, then began to stretch as the clock struck half past the hour. Time appeared, staring at his hourglass. My shadow grew longer and longer, until my head was level with Time's. It was now or never.

"Time Card! I command you to return to your power confined! TIME!" The last word was a shout, and I brought my staff down, as did my shadow. As my shadow's staff touched the place where Time was, the shape of a Card appeared at the tip of my real staff, and Time was sucked into the Card. Once Time was fully inside the Card, I held out my hand as Time floated gently into my hand. I beamed happily, full of excitement. I'd captured the Time Card!

"Yeah!" I cheered, punching the air. My stomach grumbled, and it suddenly hit me how hungry I was. I had fifteen minutes to get to breakfast, eat something and get to class in time for Potions.

"Fly!" Using Fly, I flew to the Great Hall, stopping just before it and making the staff return to being a key and rushing in.

"Where were you, Jason? We looked all over for you!" Ron complained.

"Sorry. Had to go to the library." I lied.

I sat and gobbled a quick breakfast and headed to Potions, which, thanks to my knowledge of how it would go, went perfectly. I didn't get nudged, and I didn't lose any House Points or get detention.

The rest of the day went very well and that night, I fell asleep, satisfied in a job very well done.

The next day, there were talks around the school that people had seen a scary monster on the seventh floor, near an unused classroom. Everyone had seen something different.

I was confused, but suddenly remembered reading about something called a Boggart in the library. A Boggart showed you your deepest fear. Maybe that's what it was.

I headed to breakfast, wondering over this alleged monster.

Professor Dumbledore pulled me aside as I was heading to Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"Jason. I take it you captured the Time Card?"

"Yes, sir." I replied.

"What do you think of this monster that people have been seeing?"

"Could it be a Boggart, sir?" I asked.

He looked at me in some surprise before shaking his head. "I can see why you might think that, but a Boggart would only show itself to one person at a time. Three people were present and all saw a different monster. If it was Boggart, then it would get confused with so many people."

"I see. . . do you think it could be a Clow Card?"

"I think it might. That is why I am asking you. Normally I would not ask a student to do something so dangerous, but -"

"It's okay, Professor," I interrupted. "I understand."

He told me he would send Professor Quirrel a note, explaining why I was late, and I walked off towards the seventh floor, wondering what this monster would be. I wondered why everyone saw something different, and, if it was a Clow Card, which card it was.

As I walked, my mind turned to my mother, who's birthday was coming up soon. I wondered how she felt about me, watching over me, knowing about my special powers. Did she know about me being a wizard? Did she know about the Clow Cards? Would she be proud of me?

I suddenly realised I didn't even have a picture of her here, so I couldn't wish her a happy birthday properly. The thought made me feel a little upset, but as I neared the classroom, I pushed it away, though thoughts of my mother still lingered at the front of my mind. Suddenly, I saw a bright ball of light in front of me and gasped.

"What the. . .?"

As I watched, something began to emerge from the light, and I shrunk back slightly, fearing some enormous monster like everyone had seen. What emerged, however, caused me to gasp in shock.

The ghost of my mother stood hovered before me, a serene smile on her face, her arms held out as though offering a hug.

"Mother. . .?"


	8. A terrible truth, and some surprises

My mother did not reply, simply floated there, the serene smile never leaving her face.

"Are you happy where you are?" I asked.

She suddenly began to float backwards, vanishing through the doorway that lead to the Astronomy Tower.

"Wait!" I cried, tearing after her. I flung the door open to see her floating gently backwards up the stairs, her eyes never leaving mine.

"Mother!" I ran after her as she floated up to the very highest part of the tower, then the battlements. I followed her, standing atop the battlements, staring her in the face.

"Mother, please! Don't run away from me! It's me! Jason!" She simply smiled at me, floating back a little more, and I was struck by a desire to just hug her, just once. I had to see. . . if it was her. My mother. . .

"Mother. . ." I took a step forward, and the world fell away from me. Before everything went black, I was aware of a strong hand gripping my wrist.

I awoke in the Hospital Wing, a worried looking Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid sat by me.

"Wha. . .? How did I get here?"

"Jason!" Hermione flung her arms around me. "We were so worried!"

She pulled herself off me and sat down, looking anxious.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You fell." Harry said.

"Off the top of the Astronomy Tower." Hagrid put in. "Ye were jus' floatin' there, floatin' down to the ground, as though someone was holding ye."

"I remember. . . seeing my mother." I said, casting my mind back.

"But, Jason. Your mother's. . ." Hermione trailed off. I'd filled her in on my story not long after we got to school.

"Dead, I know, but I saw her, clear as day. She took me to the Astronomy Tower, and then. . . I fell."

"That sounds like she wanted to hurt you, though." Harry pointed out.

"NO!" I yelled. "My mother. . . she would never want that."

"Then you have to think logically, Jason." Hermione replied. "If you know your mother would never do that, then that means that that wasn't your mother."

My eyes widened as her words hit home, and my brain began adding two and two together. I'd not sensed a Clow Card when my mother had appeared, but I'd been so happy at seeing her that everything else had been thrown out of the window. There was a very real possibility that that had been a Clow Card. That meant I had to face it again. I wasn't looking forward to it.

Soon, Madame Pomfrey kicked them all out and told me she would be back in ten minutes. The moment she left, a very sorry looking Kero flew out from under the bed, holding a yellow flower in his mouth.

"Awww, Kero. . ."

"I'm sorry," he said, dropping the flower on my lap. "I sensed the Card and flew after you, but when you got to the tower, I was thrown back. I couldn't do a thing to help."

"Oh, Kero," I said, pulling him into a hug. "It's not your fault. So, it was definitely a Clow Card, then?"

"Yes, and hearing what you saw confirms it. It's the Illusion Card."

"Illusion Card?" I asked. That sounded dangerous.

"The Illusion Card shows a person their deepest fear. It also shows them whatever they expect to see, or if their mind is on something specific, it will tap into that thought and become it. So everyone saw a monster because they were expecting to see a monster. You saw your mother -"

"-because I was thinking of her. It's her birthday soon." I explained.

"That explains why the Card showed your mother. The Illusion Card is very aggressive, and wanted to try and hurt you."

"But why?"

"Some Cards are more aggressive than others, and some will actively try to hurt you before you can capture them." Kero explained.

"Wonderful." I said sarcastically. "Look, Kero, we have to capture that Card, and soon!"

"I couldn't agree more! Let's go!"

We quietly ran out, making sure not to run into anyone. As we neared the place where my mother had appeared, I began to sense the Clow Card. This time, it was coming from upstairs, in the Tower. The two of us raced up, and, despite now knowing it was a Clow Card, my heart ached. I just wanted to see her again. . .

Tears came unbidden to my eyes and I furiously wiped them away. Now was no time to cry! I had to capture this Card before someone else got hurt!

Kero and I stopped atop the Tower, looking round. Suddenly, I saw it, the same place where I'd fallen before.

As I approached it, my mother appeared once more and Kero let out a gasp.

"Your mother!" he exclaimed, having seen photos of her. "That's definitely the Illusion Card!"

A surge of white hot anger ran through me. How dare this Card take on my mother's form like that!

"That does it!" I said. I summoned the staff and raised it above my head. "Illusion Card! I command you to return to your power confined! Illusion Card!"

The Illusion Card floated into my hand moments later, and I stared at the picture. It looked like a pretty kaleidoscope pattern, the kind you got on the old telescopes that they made for children not long back.

I slipped it into my pocket to join the other four and headed downstairs, sneaking back into the Hospital Wing just as Madame Pomfrey returned.

She handed me a block of chocolate and let me go after making me swear to eat the lot.

Nibbling it, while surreptitiously handing Kero pieces of it from where he was hidden in my bag, I wondered what other Cards would show themselves. As it turned out, I wouldn't have to wait long to find out.

I walked into the Common Room, where Hermione was sat reading a book, a beautiful brooch pinned to her robe.

"Hermione, that's beautiful!" I exclaimed, taking a better look at it. It was in the shape of a sword with a diamond shaped tip, a red jewel in the hilt, which had three feathers, like wings coming from it and a chain going from the tip to the hilt in the shape of the letter 's'.

"Thanks," she said, smiling at me. "I found it in the library, and Madame Pince said no one had lost it, and that I could keep it."

It really was a beautiful piece of work. I'd always liked jewelry, ever since I was young, but there wasn't much in the market for boys.

Harry and Ron walked in, chatting. I knew everyone else was out having break elsewhere. We seemed to be the only ones who stayed in the Common Room lately. It was then that I noticed Hermione had been hunched over her book much closer than needed.

"Hermione?" I said, walking over. "Are you okay?"

Suddenly, I sensed a Clow Card extremely close by. Hermione looked up at me, her eyes completely blank. It was like she wasn't even in there. She stood, much faster than I'd expected her to be able to, and a sword appeared in her right hand. To my shock, the sword was a replica of her brooch, which I suddenly noticed was missing.

"Oh no. . ." I breathed. This was bad. This was very, very bad. A Clow Card had taken over Hermione, right in front of Harry and Ron, and there was no way I could summon my staff in front of them without giving myself away.

"Jason!" Kero yelled, flying into the room. "There's a Clow Card - Woah!" he noticed the sword in Hermione's hand, which was now pointed at my throat. "That's the Sword Card!"

"The Sword Card?"

"Yes! It's a very strong Card! You have got to capture it!"

"But how?" I demanded. "I don't want to hurt her!"

"You have got to get her to let go of that sword, it's the only way to free her!"

Determinedly keeping my gaze away from Harry and Ron, who were both staring in shock at Kero, I took out my pendant and allowed it to dangle from one hand.

"Oh key of Clow. . ." it began to glow and the magic circle appared beneath my feet, eliciting a gasp from both boys. "Power of magic, power of light. Surrender the wand, the force ignite. Release!" The staff elongated and I grabbed it with my right hand and stood before the possessed Hermione, who suddenly took a swing. I leaped and, grabbing onto her shoulder, flipped myself over her shoulders and over the sofa.

"Bloody hell!" Ron breathed. I spun and faced Hermione.

"Kero, what do I do? I don't want to hurt her!"

"Use your head, Jason! You know the Cards you have! Use them!"

I bit my lip as I pondered. The only ones that seemed useful right now were the Illusion, Watery and Time Cards. Watery didn't seem like a good choice, as making her hand slippery didn't look like it would do anything. The sword seemed like it was made for her hand and her hand alone, the way she was holding it, but I knew the only reason for that was the Sword Card's magic. That left Illusion and Time. I didn't want to try Time just yet, as Kero had warned me that Time drained a sorcerer's magical power extremely quickly, and I would need my strength to get through the rest of the day. The choice was clear.

"Illusion!" I cried, tossing it into the air. "Show Hermione the thing that she fears the most!" I felt awful, but the shock was the only thing that would work. Illusion activated and a kaleidoscope silhouette appeared before her. Hermione froze, her blank eyes staring at the silhouette.

"Pr'fessor. . .?" she mumbled, her speech almost slurred. I noticed the sword seemed slack, and I took my chance. Running over to her, I grabbed her around the wait and smacked her wrist, and her hand opened, the Sword dropping to the ground. Immediately, Hermione collapsed into my arms and I held her. The Sword floated into the air before me and I raised the staff and tapped the air.

"Sword Card! I command you to return to your power confined! SWORD CARD!" The Sword Card floated into my hand and I looked at it then down to where Hermione was. With the boy's help, I placed Hermione on the sofa and sat in a nearby armchair with a sigh.

"That was too close." I muttered.

"Jason?"

"Mm?" I mumbled, not really paying attention.

"What just happened?"

I looked up at Harry and Ron, and realised I owed them an explanation. Kero hovered in the air above Hermione, and declared she would make a full recovery. I sighed and filled Harry and Ron in on everything, silently promising myself I'd tell Hermione everything later.

Once I'd finished, Ron had only two words to say.

"Bloody hell!"

Harry was quietly amazed, I could see it in his eyes. Putting the Sword Card with the others, I transformed the staff back into a key and slipped it around my neck once more. Harry ran upstairs, saying he was going to get a book for Potions and a few minutes later, he came back down, looking puzzled.

"My trunk won't open. Not even Alohomora will open it."

Ron, Kero and I followed him upstairs. I watched as he tapped his wand on the trunk, only for some kind of force field to appear and cause his wand to bounce right off. Kero and I gasped as we both sensed the Clow Card keeping his trunk locked.

"Kero!"

"I know, I saw it, too!"

"Saw what?"

"When Harry tapped his wand on his trunk, a force field appeared." I explained.

"No it didn't." Ron said, looking at me like I was mad.

"Only those with magical powers can see it." Kero said.

"Duh, I do have magic. I'm a wizard, remember?" Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"Not that magic. Sorcerer's magic. It's a lot more powerful than wizarding magic."

"Oh."

I summoned the staff and tapped it on the trunk. Immediately, it bounced off, and the force field appeared before, this time a little more strongly than before.

"Think, Jason. What Card do you have right now that can cut through anything?"

"Oh yeah! The Sword Card! Sword!" I cried activating the Sword Card. My staff transformed into the elegant looking sword Hermione had been holding. I raised it above my head and slashed down, hard. It sliced through the force field, cutting it clean in two. The force field rose into the air, forming the shape of a winged shield that looked like a single wing.

"Of course! The Shield Card! It looks after very precious things. It's actually a very friendly Card."

I captured the Card and added the Shield Card to my ever growing collection, feeling pleased with myself.

Harry reached into his trunk and pulled out his book that he needed. I noticed that he had Dumbledore's wizard card still in his trunk and I suddenly understood why the Shield Card had protected Harry's trunk. Harry hated living with the Dursleys, and Hogwarts was a dream come true for him; he had a home, friends, and he fit in. Everything in that trunk was a precious reminder of Harry's true life at Hogwarts.

I smiled as I made my way downstairs to check on Hermione. I had no way of knowing that she would soon find out, and not long after I had completed yet another capture, and this one was going to be quite bouncy.


	9. More Cards and an unlikely bond

It was a few days before Halloween when my next Card capture occurred. Well, the next two, actually.

I was in the dungeons, scrubbing out some cauldrons as punishment from Snape for knocking over my cauldron during class. I'd been having the same recurring dream of late, and my sleeping was suffering badly because of it. This meant I wasn't paying attention in class as much as I could be.

In the dream, I was standing atop Hogwarts, the staff in my hand, wearing an outfit that I normally would not wear - elegant black robed with red dragons curling round from the hem upwards. Kero was flying next to me. The cards were all flying in front of me, far more than I had at the moment. In the dream there was a silhouette some way away. I had no idea who it was, and every time I got close enough to see, I would wake up. It was maddening.

I sighed as I scrubbed some dark goo from one side of the cauldron, wrinkling my nose at the awful stench. Whoever had used this cauldron must have been terrible at potions.

I stood, bending backwards slightly to crack my aching back. As I put the cauldron back into it's place on the desk, I noticed something on the floor, poking out from underneath the ingredients cupboard. Picking it up, I was surprised, shocked and pleased to see it was a Clow Card. The Wood Card. I grinned, thinking this Cardcaptor thing was going to be easy if they were all like this. I didn't even have to Seal it!

Placing the Card on a the desk where I usually worked, I turned back to the cupboard and began leaning the ingredients in there. Professor Snape hadn't asked me, but it had been bugging me all lesson that the cupboard was in such a mess, the ingredients were all mixed together, and some had gone bad and couldn't be used any longer. Moving the bad ones out and disposing of them, I was surprised once more to find yet another Card inside the cupboard. I was dismayed, however, to find it was covered in a thick layer of rotten Flobberworms. Holding it gingerly by the unspoilt corner, I placed it next to the first Card, wondering if the magic would be affected by the picture and name being obscured by the slime.

As I was pulling my wand out to clean the Card with magic, I noticed Hermione had left her Transfiguration book on her desk. She was going to need it for tomorrow's lesson! All thoughts of cleaning the Card gone, I took the book and raced upstairs to find Hermione.

As I left the room, a beam of sunlight came in through a crack in the window, shining right on the ruined Card, which began to glow.

I raced upstairs, searching for Hermione, completely oblivious to the magic going on downstairs.

I finally found her on the First Floor, searching her bag.

"Hermione!"

"Oh, hi, Jason." she said, rummaging in her bag again. "I can't talk now, I've lost my Transfiguration book. I was going to go over it with Professor McGonagall. I wanted to talk to her about our next lesson."

"It's here!" I cried, brandishing it wildly. "You left it in the Potions classroom!"

"Oh, thank you!" she said, taking it from me. "I couldn't think where it had gone!"

"No problem," I smiled. "just don't forget it again, okay?"

"Got it." she smiled.

"Oh, yeah. Professor Flitwick told me that we'll be practising the Levitation Charm in a day or two." I said.

"Oh, I can't wait!" she exclaimed. "It's so much fun, learning magic. You know, some days, I still can't believe I'm here."

"I hear you," I replied with a smile. "I had no idea I had magical powers until the letter came."

"Neither did I!"

The two of us shared a laugh, and I said my goodbyes and prepared to head back to the dungeons. Suddenly, there was a groaning noise from nearby and I froze, looking for the source of the noise. I saw a strange shadow on a wall near the door that lead to the Grand Staircase. Walking towards it, I was shocked to see the branch of a tree poking into the air. Looking down, I followed it with my gaze. It was coming from the Entrance Hall, and, by association, the Dungeons. My heart plummeted. It couldn't be. . .

I snapped off a branch, and watched as it vanished in a haze of blue light. It was definitely the Wood Card.

"Jason!"

I turned to see Kero hovering by me.

"This is the work of the Wood Card!"

"Oh yeah. I know, I found it in the Dungeons."

"Did you write your name on it?"

"No. . ." I replied slowly, thinking back. "It was already in it's Card form, so why bother?"

I'd written my name on all the rest, as Kero had told me that if I wrote my name on the Cards, below their name, it would help them understand that I was their Master and they would stay Sealed until I called upon them.

"Jason!" Kero exclaimed. "You should always write your name, even if the Card is in it's Card form, otherwise the Seal won't hold!"

Oops.

"Okay, I'll Seal it." I summoned my staff, raised it and Sealed the Card. To my surprise, the Card shrank backwards, downstairs towards the Dungeons.

"Since you left the Card there, it's going back down to where it's form was - the place it was activated from." Kero explained.

"But how did it activate?" I wondered. "Only I can activate it."

"Actually, anyone who reads out the name of the Card can activate it."

Oh, no. This was very worrying.

I started running downstairs when suddenly, the groaning noise sounded again, and the branches rushed up, far more powerfully than before. The branches looked thicker, too.

"Wha - what's going on?" Kero yelled, staring wide eyed at the tree branches.

"Maybe it's the other Card I found in the Dungeons. . ." I mused.

"You found another Card?"

"Yeah, but it was covered in rotted Flobberworms, so I couldn't see the name."

"You don't say. . ."

I decided to go down and see what Card was causing the Wood Card to be so aggressive.

"You know, the Wood Card never acts like this."

"Oh?" I was interested as to why the Wood Card would behave this way, if this wasn't its usual behaviour.

"It's usually such a gentle spirit."

I forced my way past the ever thickening branches as we made our way to the Entrance Hall, passing some bewildered students. As we got into the Dungeons, we ran into Professor Snape. Kero immediately stopped, landing on my shoulder and pretending to be a stuffed animal.

"Professor!"

"Mr Avalon. Why are you not in my classroom, cleaning out cauldrons?"

"I was. I finished cleaning cauldrons and was just returning Hermione's book to her that she left behind."

"I did not give you permission to leave."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but -"

"And why is there a tree growing from my classroom?"

"Uh. . ." I was stumped. How could I explain things to him?

"Does this have anything to do with the Clow Cards?"

Kero immediately shot up from my shoulder.

"What do you know about the Clow Cards?" he demanded.

Snape didn't even blink. "Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall informed me when you were behaving so strangely in my class the other day."

"Oh. . ." That had been the never ending day - the day I had captured the Time Card, which had been making the same day repeat itself over and over again. I hadn't been aware I was behaving strangely, however.

"Well, Mr Avalon?"

"Yes. I found two Cards when I was cleaning the cauldrons, and changing the ingredients cupboard, and -"

"You were changing the cupboard?"

"Yes. I noticed in lesson that it was very messy, and some ingredients had gone bad, and others were mixing with ingredients that shouldn't be mixed. If you mix the wrong ingredients, even a tiny bit, it can completely ruin a potion at the most crucial moment."

Snape simply looked at me. "Get rid of it."

I nodded and squeezed my way into the classroom, my foot landing in something wet. Looking down, I was astonished to see the classroom floor was at least five inches deep in water.

"What the. . .?"

I made my way inside the classroom, looking round. The room was unrecognisable now. Everywhere the eye could see was covered by tree branches, from floor to ceiling I suddenly spotted a cloud in the air, a steady stream of rain falling onto the trunk of the tree, which came from the desk I'd put the Cards on.

"That's the Rain Card!"

"The Rain Card?"

"Yeah! It's usually not so bad, but some Cards draw power from others. The Wood Card is so strong and aggressive because it's drawing power from the Rain Card!"

"Oh. So if I capture the Rain. . ."

"Then the Wood will go back to normal!"

"Alright!" I cried, darting forward and raising my staff. "Rain!"

The cloud turned around, and I was surprised to see that there was a small, childlike spirit of a girl sat atop it. She smiled happily at me and floated over. I braced myself for the cold, and was mildly surprised when the gentle rain falling on me hardly bothered me at all.

"Hey, this isn't so bad." I said, relaxing. Suddenly, the water came down like a waterfall, soaking me from head to toe. I was not impressed in the slightest, and the Rain took off, giggling.

"Get back here!" I was angry now. This Card had soaked me through and had made a real mess of the classroom - a mess I knew I was going to have to deal with.

I chased after the giggling spirit, leaping over branches and desks and, spotting an opportunity to capture it, jumped on a desk and leaped into the air, bringing my staff down hard. "Rain! I command you to return to -"

Before I could finish, however, Rain soaked me through, making the rest of the sentence a meaningless babble.

"Cards draw power from other Cards" Kero yelled. "Use the Water Card!"

I nodded and brought out the Water Card, tossing it into the air. "Water! Release and dispel!"

The Water spirit appeared above me, hovering there, staring at the confused Rain spirit, as all the water she was dropping from her little cloud was being drawn to the Water spirit.

"Water! Form a sphere around Rain!"

The Water spirit flew at Rain, forming a sphere of water around her. She looked even more puzzled at this, and a little upset that I had spoiled her fun.

"Rain Card!" I cried, raising my staff. "I command you to return to your power confined!" Bringing my staff down, the Rain Card was drawn back into her Card form, but she didn't go willingly. She kicked and fought to stay out of the Card, but the magic of the staff was too much, and finally, the Rain Card was mine once more.

"Now for you!" I shouted, turning to the trunk of the Wood Card.

"Wait!" Kero said, flying in front of me.

"Huh?"

He simply smiled gently at me as the Wood Card began to return to it's original form of it's own accord. The tree shrank, revealing a small woman, who looked like an elf, like in a fantasy story, only she was green and had a string of ivy on her chest. She smiled at me and I held my hands out. She leaped into my hands, returning to her Card form immediately.

I smiled as I stared at her Card.

"See? The Wood Card is a gentle spirit."

I smiled as I grabbed a quill and wrote my name at the bottom of both Cards.

"Jason. . ." I muttered, writing it out. I smiled as I turned, the smile slipping from my face. The classroom was a wreck. The tables were overturned, all the ingredients had fallen from the cupboard and were strewn all over the floor, all of them mixing with one another, and the cauldrons were thrown everywhere.

I groaned as I began righting the tables as Professor Snape walked in.

"I'm so sorry, Professor." I said miserably. "The ingredients are all ruined!"

"There are ways to restore them. Leave them to me."

"But sir, I -"

"I said leave them to me."

I nodded, downcast. I'd ruined the classroom by not paying more attention. This was all my fault.

"You may leave."

I nodded once more and left, Kero landing on my shoulder once more.

As I left, I could have sworn I heard Snape mutter 'ten points to Gryffindor', but I must have been hearing things. Snape never gave points to Gryffindor. He probably took ten points off. After all, I had destroyed his classroom.

I made my way back to my bed, where I flopped onto it and cried. Why hadn't I paid more attention?

"Don't cry, Jason. It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was!" I sobbed. "If I'd written my name on the Cards in the first place, this wouldn't have happened!"

Kero tried to comfort me, but I knew this was my fault. I was determined in future, I would write my names on the Card immediately, the moment I captured it. After some more sobbing, I fell into an uneasy sleep, punctuated by the recurring dream yet again.

Two days later, it was Halloween, and I had been surprised to realise the day before that Snape had indeed given Gryffindor ten points. When I asked him about it, he told me that I had done him a great favour by attempting to sort out the cupboard, and that though he did not have favourites, I was one of his best students. When I had asked if that was apart from Hermione, he told me that wasn't what he meant, and to hurry up and get to class.

I hadn't told anybody about Snape giving me points. I felt it best to preserve his reputation for a while.

I was running down to breakfast, I sensed a Clow Card. Following my senses, I look out of the nearby window and saw three gargoyle statues. . . bouncing around the courtyard. They were bouncing incredibly high.

"Feel that!" Kero poked his head out of my bag.

"Yeah, look!"

"Oh! It's the Jump Card!"

"The Jump Card?"

"Yeah. That's a tricky Card to capture, you're going to have to think on this one."

Using Fly, I flew out of the window and down to where the statues were bouncing. Thinking hard, I pulled out the Time Card for the first time.

"Jason, NO!" Kero cried.

"Time! Release and dispel!"

Time froze and the statues stopping moving. Blended in with the statues was a pink rabbit looking thing. I felt my magical power being drained at an alarming rate, my strength fading, and knew I had to act fast. I leaped forward, tackling the spirit and holding on tight, making Time resume once more. The Jump and I landed hard on the ground, and suddenly, the Jump jumped high into the air, taking me with it. I looked down and saw we were even higher than the school. Jump slipped free of my grasp and I fell. Using Fly, I flew down to the ground and pulled out the Wood Card and unleashed it. Wood flew out and formed a cage around the Jump spirit, stopping it from escaping. I Sealed it with a smile on my face, then flew back to school and ran into breakfast, hoping I hadn't been seen.

I ate breakfast and headed to lessons with the others. Transfiguration was great as always, and then it was time for Charms, the lesson I'd been looking forward to for a while. Taking my seat, I wasn't happy to find myself next to Draco. Hermione was paired with Ron, and Harry with Seamus.

"One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation - the ability to make objects fly." Professor Flitwick squeaked from atop his pile of books. "Do you all have your feathers?"

Hermione and I raised ours.

"Good," he said. "Now, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practising, hm? The swish and flick. All together now."

We all dutifully raised our wands and gave them a small swish, followed by a deft flick. "The swish and flick." We echoed.

"Good. And enunciate. Wingardium Leviosa. Off you go."

"Wingardium Leviosaaa. . ." Draco muttered from my side, swishing his wand. Of course, nothing happened. I looked around the room to see everyone else wasn't doing any better. Seriously, did no one listen?

"Wingardrium Leviosar!" Ron said, whacking his wand on his desk numerous times.

What the heck was he playing at? What happened to the swish and flick?

"Stop, stop, stop!" Hermione cried, grabbing his arm as he attempted to whack his wand again. "You're going to take someone's eye out with that. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Leviosa, not Leviosar."

I had to hold back from applauding. At least someone else got it. Seriously, Flitwick had literally just finished telling us exactly what needed to be done, so why was everyone saying it wrong and getting the wand movement wrong? It was a perfectly simple spell!

"You do it then!" Ron exclaimed. "Go on, then! Go on, if you're so clever!"

Alright, then. Fine, I would! I raised my wand at the exact moment Hermione did. Giving my wand a small swish and deft flick, I cast my spell.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

Mine and Hermione's feathers rose steadily into the air. Professor Flitwick applauded and cheered as Ron pulled his books towards him and dejectedly put his head on them. It was his own fault for not paying attention.

"See here, everyone! Miss Granger and Mr Avalon have done it!"

Hermione turned her head and beamed at me, and I smiled back. Ron's scowl deepened. As the lesson ended, I waited for Hermione to walk with her and talk about the lesson, full of excitement at how well we'd done.

"It's Leviosa, not Leviosar." Ron said from just ahead of the two of us in a snooty imitation of Hermione. He was with Harry, Neville and Seamus. "She's a nightmare, honestly. It's no wonder she hasn't got any friends!"

At this, Hermione, who had been looking rather teary the moment she heard Ron begin speaking, took off, sniffling, banging into Harry and Ron on her way past.

"I think she heard you." Harry said.

"So?" Ron said, looking a little uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she hasn't got any friends."

White hot anger burned within me and I strode up to Ron and shoved him into a wall, hard, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck.

He yelped in surprise.

"Jason! What the hell?"

"Yes, Ron!" I said angrily, shaking him with the hand I was holding him against the wall with, the other hand around the hilt of my wand. "What the hell were you playing at? She was correcting you! Your enunciation was absolutely dreadful! You paid no attention whatsoever to what Flitwick was saying and just because she did and managed to perform the spell, you go taking the mick! Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Jason, calm down!" Harry said, trying to pull my arm away.

"Get off me, Harry!" I snarled.

"Did you forget she helped you, Ron?" I demanded of him. "Need I remind you of Alohomora? She saved your ass and you better apologise to her the next time you see her, I mean it!"

Shaking him hard once more for good measure, I dropped him and stormed off, angrier than I'd felt in a long time. How dare he talk about her like that! She did have a friend! Me!

That night, I headed to the Great Hall for dinner, where the Halloween Jack O' Lanterns failed to raise a smile from me, despite my love of the holiday. Harry and Ron walked in and sat down opposite me and Ron took a mouthful of candy cane. Why we had candy canes for dinner, I had no idea, but I wasn't complaining. Taking a handful of candy canes and other sweets, I shoved them into my bag, where Kero was hiding. I took a few more handfuls and shoved them in, then took a gulp of juice and a bite of a halloween toffee apple. The way Ron had treated Hermione had made me lose my appetite.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked at random.

"Pavarti Patil said she was in the girl's bathroom." Neville piped up. "She said she'd been in there all afternoon. . . crying and wouldn't come out."

Harry and Ron exchanged uncomfortable looks, and Ron shot me a guilty look, which I returned with a scathing glance. Good! I was glad he was feeling guilty, as well he should!

As I was thinking of putting some food aside for Hermione, Professor Quirrel ran in, a look of utter terror on his face.

I'd never liked him from the moment I saw him, and had always been unable to explain why I didn't trust him an inch. The look of terror on his face seemed. . . forced somehow.

"TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON!"

The whole hall had gone silent the moment he ran in and began screaming.

"T-TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" he stopped and there was complete and utter silent. You could have heard a feather drop. "Thought you ought to know. . ." he muttered before crumpling to the floor. I frowned. It all looked too fake, sounded far too suspicious. How had a troll got in? They weren't the smartest of creatures, and would have needed a way in, and would have headed immediately for the sound of greatest noise - all of us, so. . . where was the troll?

While I was thinking all this, the rest of the Hall began panicking and screaming like crazy. Dumbledore called for silence and told everyone to head back to their dormitories immediately. I followed the rest of the Gryffindors and turned to talk to Harry and Ron, see what they thought, my anger at Ron replaced by a burning desire to know what was going on. I was surprised to find them gone, and Kero muttered to me that they had gone to find Hermione and let her know of the troll. I whispered a thank you, eliciting funny looks from passing Gryffindors and quickly took off after them. I headed towards the toilets on the first floor, just in time to see Harry and Ron rush into the girls bathroom, where screams could be heard. I summoned my staff immediately. I knew I could help get rid of the troll! I just knew I could! I ran to the door and poked my head inside. I saw Hermione ducking for cover under a sink as Harry threw his arms around the troll's neck, his wand going up it's nose. The troll gave a roar of agony and dropped it's club. Now was my chance! I pulled the Shadow Card out and tossed it into the air.

"Shadow! Take over my shadow and throw the club into the air!"

Shadow flew into my shadow, which detached itself from me and flew over to the club. Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked as my shadow took hold of the shadow of the club, which rose into the air. Shadow then tossed the club up high, and Ron looked at his wand, then at Hermione, who mouthed 'swish and flick'

Ron gave his wand a swish and flick.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, giving the correct enunciation. I smiled. He'd done it! The club stopped falling and hovered in the air, then rose high above the troll's head, then dropped with a solid thunk. My shadow flew back to me and I walked into the bathroom as the troll dropped like a stone.

"What the . . ."

"Jason! Did you use one of the Clow Cards?" Ron exclaimed.

"Yeah. The Shadow Card. I had to give you some help to help you get the spell."

"What -" Hermione began.

"I'll explain later, I promise." I said, returning the staff to a key and slipping it around my neck once more.

"What is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall thundered from behind us. I turned, faltering immediately. How to explain? Quirrel was there, along with Snape, and I did not want Quirrel to find out about the Cards, not at all.

"Well, what is it. . ." Ron began.

"You see. . . it's. . ." Harry trailed off.

"It's my fault, Professor." Hermione explained. All of us gaped. Hermine was lying to a teacher!

"M-Miss Granger?" McGonagall looked astonished.

"I went looking for the troll. I'd read all about them and thought I could handle it. If Harry, Ron and Jason hadn't come and found me. . . I'd probably be dead."

McGonagall seemed as shocked as any of us.

"Be that as it may. . . it was an extremely foolish thing to do."

At this point, I glanced at Snape's leg, as did Harry. We noticed he had a large, bloody cut on his leg. Snape saw us looking and glared at us, covering his leg up immediately.

"I would have expected more rational behaviour on your part. Ms. Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgement."

Hermione looked downcast, while Harry, Ron and I exchanged amazed looks. As McGonagall turned to us, we hastily rearranged our faces.

"As for you three gentlemen, I hope you realise how fortunate you are. Not many students could take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale - let alone first years. Five points will be awarded to each of you. . . for sheer, dumb luck."

With that, she and Snape left, both giving me a strange look. It was then that I realised they both thought I'd taken care of it using the Cards. I hadn't - not really. I'd just given Ron a push.

We all left, and on our way through the now deserted halls, I filled Hermione in on everything, apologising for not telling her sooner.

She simply smiled and thanked me, then the others, who both thanked her for taking the fall. Harry and I pointed out to Ron that none of this would have happened if he hadn't been so rude to her. He went pink at that.

As we headed to the Common Room to finish off the feast, my mind turned to the upcoming Quidditch Match, wondering how we'd do. My stomach, however, gave a loud rumble. It seemed my appetite had returned. It was almost like magic.


	10. Quidditch and a mischievous double!

It was the morning of the Quidditch Match. Though I was a Chaser, I wouldn't be playing in today's match, unless one of the other Chasers was hurt, so for the time being, I would be in the stands with Hermione and Ron, although even that made me nervous. I could barely eat a thing.

"Come on, Jason, it's not like you're playing today." Ron said, watching me chase a sausage round my plate.

"Harry, eat up, you'll need your strength for today's match." Hermione said.

"I'm not hungry." Harry said. I knew he was more nervous than I was - he was the Seeker and had the hardest job of them all, which was to capture the elusive Golden Snitch.

"Hey, Jason, can't you, you know. . ." Ron said, lowering his voice.

"Ron, no! That'd be cheating!" Hermione hissed.

"Besides, it's not right. If Gryffindor win, it has to be fair." I replied.

"Thank you." Hermione said with a smile.

Professor Snape walked up.

"Good luck today, Potter. Then again, now you've proven yourself against a troll, a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you. . . even if it is against Slytherin." He walked off, limping.

"That explains the blood." Harry and I said together.

"Blood?" Hermione asked.

"Listen, last night, I'm guessing Snape let that troll in as a diversion so he could try and get past that three headed dog, but he got himself bitten, and that's why he's limping." Harry said.

I wasn't so sure. Yes, maybe Snape had gone to see the dog, but why would he try and get past it? Maybe he'd been playing with it.

"But why would anyone go near that dog?" Hermione asked.

"To play fetch?" I suggested. The three of the turned and stared at me.

"Oh, come on! He's cute!"

Ron shook his head. "You've been spending too much time with Hagrid, mate."

I sighed. Why could no one see how adorable that dog was? I wanted to take him for a walk, though he was a little on the large side, and he'd probably take me for a walk.

"Anyway. . ." Harry said slowly. "The day Jason and I were at Gringotts, Hagrid took something out of one of the vaults. He said it was Hogwarts business, very secret."

"So, what you're saying. . ." Hermione started.

"Is that that's what the dog's guarding. That's what Snape wants." Harry finished.

Suddenly, there were two loud screeches, and Hedwig and Star flew in, dropping large, long packages in front of Harry and I.

"Bit early for mail." I remarked, looking at mine curiously.

"But I - I never get mail!" Harry said.

We looked at one another, and, as one, opened the packages. Inside lay two fine looking brooms.

We both gasped.

"It's a broomstick!" Harry gasped out.

"No, duh, really?" I said sarcastically. "It is a nice one, though."

"That's not just any broomstick! It's the Nimbus 2000!" Ron exclaimed.

Woah. I'd seen that in the shop we went past. It had been very expensive. But who. . .?

Harry and I looked round and saw Professor McGonagall smiling at us, stroking Star and Hedwig. That explained it.

As we all left, Ernie MacMillan walked up, an angry look on his face.

"You think that's funny, Avalon?"he demanded."That was my homework you just ripped up! You're lucky I knew the Reparo spell!"

He stormed off, leaving the four of us to stare after him.

"He's gone mad!" Ron said, shaking his head as we all continued on our way. What Ernie said began to really bother me. Why would he think I ripped up his homework? I had my own to worry about!

We all headed to the Quidditch Stadium, where the four of us split up; Harry went one way and the three of us went the other. We climbed to the top of the Quidditch tower and took our seats in the Gryffindor section, where we found Neville and Hagrid waiting.

"Alrigh' you three?" Hagrid said, grinning at us.

"Hi, Hagrid!" We chorused. We sat and watched the game as Gryffindor scored twice, then in horror as Marus Flint, the Slytherin Captain, sent a Bludger into Wood, who sank to the ground in pain. We all booed, but I knew it was a legitimate move, as I'd looked up all the fouls, and that wasn't one of them. It was just playing dirty.

Slytherin scored, and I frowned, hating the way they were playing dirty and getting away with it. They boxed in Angelina Johnson and sent her out, by sending her into the towers, where she fell. Harry suddenly spotted something, and I knew it was the Snitch. Suddenly, his broom began bucking, going crazy, and a tingling ran all over me. Magic was at work here. I stared right at his broom, willing the spell to show itself to me. I saw a shadowy hand around the handle of the broom, near Harry's hands. The hand was yanking the broom up and down, trying to throw Harry off!

"What's going on with his broom?" Hagrid asked, staring at it. Obviously, no one could see what I could.

I looked over at Hermione, who was staring through Hagrid's binoculars at something. I followed her gaze, wishing I could see what she was looking at.

Suddenly, my gaze sharpened, and zoomed in on Professors Snape and Quirrell. Both had their eyes on Harry, and both were muttering under their breath.

"It's Snape!" Hermione exclaimed. "He's jinxing the broom! Leave it to me!" Dropping the binoculars, she ran off. Ron and I watched, right up to the point where I whirled round. I sensed a Clow Card nearby! It was very close by, too.

I ran off in search for it as, above, Harry clambered back onto his broom amidst cheers from the crowd.

As I ran down the stairs, I heard a loud rattle and saw a few brooms get tossed out from a doorway. Suddenly, frm the doorway came. . . me.

I stared as the other me looked over and smiled before taking off. I stared for a few moments, wondering what the heck was going on. As I stared, I suddenly realised that the Clow Card sense had gotten intense the moment the other me ran out. The other me was a Clow Card!

I processed that thought for a few moments before taking the brooms inside the area the other me had thrown them from. The room I walked into was none other than the Changing Rooms for Gryffindor. It was a complete mess, and I quickly set about putting it to rights, all the while wondering just why this other me was causing so much trouble, and framing me for it.

"GO, GO, GRYFFINDOR!"

Roars from the crowd echoed down to me, and I grinned, knowing Gryffindor had won the match.

I quickly left and headed back to Hermione and Ron, who were both cheering. We all headed off with Hagrid after.

Hermione was explaining things to Hagrid.

"Nonsense!" Hagrid exclaimed. "Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?"

"Maybe it wasn't Snape." I said. "Quirrell was muttering under his breath, too, and he wasn't blinking, either."

"He was probably trying a counter-curse." Hermione said. "Trying to save Harry."

"How do we know it wasn't the other way around?"

"Jason, why are youso determined that Quirrell is a bad guy?" Ron asked.

"I just don't trust him! I can't explain it."

"Well, why was Snape trying to get past that three headed dog on Halloween?" Harry retorted.

"Who told you four abou' Fluffy?" Hagrid asked.

"Fluffy?" Harry said disbelievingly.

"Awww, what a cute name. Is he yours Hagrid?" I said.

"Yeah. I won him off a greek chappie down the pub last year. Lent him to Dumbledore to guard the -"

"Guard the what?" Harrry asked eagerly.

"Never you mind," Hagrid said gruffly. "Shouldna' said that. Now, no more questions. That's top secret, that is."

"But Hagrid! Whatever Fluffy's guarding, Snape's trying to steal!"

"Codswallop. Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher."

"Hogwarts teacher or not. I know a curse when I see one. I've read all about them. You have to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking."

"Exactly." Harry put in. Hagrid sighed.

"Now listen to me, you lot. You're meddlin' in things that ought not to be meddled in. It's dangerous. What that dog is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel."

"Nicholas Flamel?" Harry asked curiously.

"I should not have said that. . . I should not have said that." Hagrid said, walking off before he could say anything else. I was disappointed; I'd been hoping to ask him if I could take Fluffy out for a walk after this was all over.

"Nicholas Flamel. . . who's Nicholas Flamel?" Harry said at large.

"I don't know." Hermione admitted.

Suddenly, I sensed the Clow Card again, and looked over at Hagrid's Hut to see the other me, smashing a pumpkin, smiling all the while.

"HEY!" I yelled, racing towards him. He looked up, smiled and took off. This time I ran after him, with Harry, Ron and Hermione following. We followed him into the school, where he immediately vanished.

"What. . . the bloody hell . . . was that?" Ron gasped out, panting.

"That was a Clow Card." I said grimly. I was going to need to talk to Kero to get to the bottom of this.

The trio followed me upstairs to the boy's dormitory, where we found Kero rearranging one of my drawers.

"Hi, Kero." I said, helping him move some of my underwear to another drawer.

"Thanks. You're not mad, are you?"

"Of course not. You should have told me you wanted to use one of the drawers, I would have cleaned one out for you. Listen, Kero, I need your help. Something's going on."

Kero sat and listened patiently, his legs and arms folded, a small frown on his face.

"And you say he looks just like you?"

"Yeah, but the sense I got was a Clow Card."

"Alright, Jason. I'm going to teach you something every Card Captor should know. Take out all the Cards you have."

I did so.

"Now, using your left hand, shuffle 'em around."

I took my left hand and began spreading them out and shuffling them around,doing my best to really shuffle them.

"Now, still using your left hand, put them into three piles."

I did so, wondering where he was going with this. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked on.

"Okay, now, keep using your left hand, take the top card from the middle pile and place it in front of you."

I did so, and, following his exact instructions, soon had a spread of Cards in front of me.

"Okay. Now. Say this: Ancient Cards of Clow, give me vision now! Show me if you may, who is standing in my way!"

"Ancient Cards of Clow! Give me vision now! Show me if you may, who is standing in my way!" I chanted. All the Cards began to glow, and a wind blew about me, ruffling my hair.

"Okay, now, turn over the top Card."

I turned the Card, revealing the Windy Card.

"Uh oh."

"Uh oh? Whaddya mean, uh oh?" I demanded. Uh oh was not something I needed to be hearing right now!

"The Cards know you're a Cardcaptor!"

"All of them?"

"Yeah. All the Cards you meet from now on will know what you are. This is very dangerous."

"You're not kidding. What now?"

"Now, turn over the three Cards in front of you. These Cards will help us work out what Card this is."

I turned them over, revealing Shadow, Watery and Illusion.

"Shadow, Watery and Illusion. . ." I mused, trying to think what these Cards had in common.

"Okay, and last, but not least, turn over the very bottom Card. This will tell us what the Card is after."

I turned over the bottom Card, revealing the Flower Card. I'd captured this Card the night before, but had been so tired afterwards that I'd almost forgotten about her. Flower's power was the ability to create any kind of flower or plant you could ever hope for. She was a very gentle spirit, much like Wood, although she loved to have fun, too.

"The Flower Card! This means the spirit is after something - or someone close to your heart."

"The only thing I can think of is either Harry, Ron or Hermione, or Dad, or Tony. . . or even Professor Dumbledore or McGonagall."

"That's a lot of people." Ron observed.

"What can I say? I take to people easily." I replied.

"Well, until we know who the Card is after, we should be really careful."

"Got it." I nodded.

We headed downstairs, where I sensed the Card again, and took off looking for it, only to run into someone.

"Oh, sorry." I said, trying to step around them.

"Hold up, kiddo."

I looked up and gasped.

"Tony!"


	11. Tony, more Cards, and Christmas!

"Tony!" I shrieked, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here. I'm helping the caretaker out for a while. Dad already knows. Dumbledore asked me to."

"But why?"

"I dunno, he just asked me over. Said something about you settling in okay."

It was then that I understood. Kero was always saying to me to expect the unexpected. Well, I certainly hadn't been expecting this one. It was then that it hit me who the Card was after. Tony.

"Well, okay. If Dad says it's okay. Say, Tony, if I come up to you in the next day or so and ask you to do something, if I'm on my own, don't do it, okay?"

He looked at me, eyebrow raised. "What?"

"Just promise me, okay?" I said, walking off with the trio.

Later that day, close to nightfall, I lost track of Tony. I raced throughout the corridors, looking for him, then Harry told me he was going down to see Hagrid with the others. Giving in on finding Tony for the time being, I walked off with them. When we knocked on Hagrid's door, he seemed surprised to see me.

"Didn't ye just go off with ye brother. Tony, was it?"

My heart went cold. The Card had hold of Tony.

"Where did I go?" I demanded.

"You should know." Hagrid replied.

"Hagrid! Where did I go!" I screamed.

He looked taken aback, then pointed to the one place I hadn't dared venture. The Forbidden Forest.

"Tony said to ye he wanted to see it, and ye promised me ye wouldn't go far in."

"Oh my God. . ." I whispered, clenching my fists. If Tony was hurt. . .

I ran for it, ignoring Hagrid's surprised shout. I heard the trio following behind me. My feet pounded the ground as I raced into the forest, stopping at the first clearing, realising I had no idea of which way to go.

"Jason! Calm down and focus! Use your senses. Sense the Card!" Kero said, coming out of my bag to fly by my shoulder.

I took a shuddering breath, my heart thumping madly. Tony could be in trouble! Forcing myself to calm down somewhat, I cast my senses around and soon found the Card. I tore off after it with the trio following. I soon came across a ledge which had a rather high drop to the ground below. Looking down, I saw Tony laid, unconscious in a large hollow in the ground. Stood nearby. . . was the other me. The Card.

"Fly!" I cried, summoning the staff and tapping the Card. Wings sprouted from the staff and I hopped on, while the trio stared in awe.

"Wait up, I'll come, too." Harry said, hopping on behind me and holding onto my shoulders. I kicked off, flying to the ground below, stopping just by Tony. I climbed off and checked on him. He was breathing, just out cold, a large bruise on his temple.

"Tony!"

I turned to face the other me, who was staring at Tony and I.

"Hey, Clow Card! You hurt my brother!"

The expression on his face contorted to one of sorrow.

"Windy!" The Windy Card took off towards the fake me - passing right through him.

"Wha -?" I couldn't believe it.

"Jason! This Card is a helix!"

"What's a helix, Kero?"

"It means it's hidden! You can't touch it until you name it! Name the Card, and you can capture it!"

I groaned, but tightened my grip on the staff as I approached the Card. He looked at me as I approached, the sad look still on his face. I held the staff close to my chest and was shocked to see him mirror my movements exactly.

"Remember the Cards! They will help you name this Card!" Kero yelled.

I cast my mind back over the three Cards that had appeared during the small reading I had done, to ask the Cards what was going on. The Illusion, Shadow and Watery Cards. Illusion, Shadow, Water. . . What could they have to do with this Card. . .?

Suddenly, it hit me as I watched him mirroring my movements. Shadow casts your shape. Water reflects like a mirror, and Illusions aren't the real thing. This Card was. . .!

"Clow Card!" I cried. "Your name is Mirror!" As I cried it's name, the false me closed it's eyes, the sad look still on it's face. An unnatural wind began to blow, and the fake me shimmered and disappeared, to be replaced by a beautiful woman with long green hair. She floated over to Tony, and spoke two words, a single tear falling from one eye.

"I'm sorry."

I was shocked. This Card was. . .almost human with the way she was acting. She floated back over and in front of me, facing my staff.

"Mirror Card! I command you to return to your power. . . confined! MIRROR!" I brought the staff down hard, and the Mirror Card was mine. Pocketing the Card and putting it with the others, I turned my attention to Tony, wondering how to get him back up to where Hermione and Ron were anxiously peering down.

I drew my wand with a slight frown. I knew the spell, but would it work the way I wanted?

"Mobilicorpus!"

Tony's body rose into the air and floated gently onto the stretcher that appeared. The stretcher magically secured him gently and Harry and I hopped onto the staff once more and flew back up with the stretcher bearing Tony following us. When we landed, we saw Hagrid and Dumbledore waiting for us. Hagrid was staring at my staff, which I put away as I turned my attention to Tony.

"He'll be okay, Jason." Kero said reassuringly. "He just needs some rest."

"Hagrid, if you could take him to see Madame Pomfrey, please." Dumbledore said. Hagrid walked over and lifted the stretcher into his arms and walked off. Dumbledore turned to me.

"I trust all is in order?"

"Yes, sir. It was the Mirror Card. It has the ability to take the form of anyone it wishes. This time, it took my form and caused quite a bit of trouble for me."

"I see." he said. "Well, since you're done here, you'd better be getting back. It's almost curfew."

We all nodded and ran off, though I was worried. What happened if something like this happened again? All the remaining Cards now knew who and what I was. This might be a problem during future Card captures.

"What you need is a new outfit!" Kero exclaimed suddenly.

I yelped in surprise and almost fell over as I came to a sudden halt.

"I need a what now?"

"A new outfit! The Cards are more likely to take you seriously if you look good. A good Cardcaptor can fight in anything, but if you look good, then it'll be better for you."

"Okay. . ." I said slowly. "And how do I go about getting this new outfit?"

"If you send Madame Malkin a design that you want, she can make it you." Hermione cut in.

I had just the outfit.

Sitting down in the Common Room, I began sketching on a piece of parchment, noting the lengths. I already knew my measurements from my school robes, so I wrote those down at the top, noting down what material I wanted, and what design. I gave it to Star, who flew off with it.

"Well, what did you ask for?" Hermione asked curiously.

"You'll find out." I grinned.

A couple of days later, I was walking through the corridors when thunder rumbled. I looked outside with a frown. There wasn't a drop of rain in sight.

"Weird. . ."

Suddenly, I sensed it. "A Clow Card!"

Using Fly, I flew outside and landed on top of a low roof, just as a fierce bolt of lightning struck by me. I yelped and jumped back, almost falling. Using the Jump Card, I hopped into the air as lightning struck the rooftop and a wolf made of lightning appeared, growling.

I took Windy out, then put it away again, pulling the Shadow Card from my pocket. Shadow would work. It had to!

I summoned my staff and Shadow bound the Card up, preventing it's escape. I Sealed the Clow Card, taking hold of it as it floated over to me. The Thunder Card, huh? Things were getting interesting. I'd have them all in no time!

Humming to myself, I flew back into school and resumed my walk. As night fell, I noticed a beautiful glow coming from the Whomping Willow tree by the greenhouses. I leaped out of a nearby window and flew over. Once there, I sensed yet another Clow Card. Capturing it, I saw the Glow Card. I smiled and flew back into school.

The next morning, I was walking to the library when I came across a ghost I'd never seen before. She was beautiful. She turned to smile at me, and it was then that I realised she was a Clow Card. She turned and approached the wall. The wall rippled slightly and she passed through it.

"Kero!" I hissed.

"That's the Through Card!" he hissed back from his hiding place in my bag.

"Through Card?"

"Yeah. It's a powerful and useful Card. You can use it to walk through anything. The only downside is, if you try walking through a wall that's protected by magic stronger than yours, or a wall that's too thick, you could get tired, or drained and be stuck in the wall forever!"

My eyes widened, until he added. "But don't worry. Your magic is very, very powerful. Like I said, right now, you're the most powerful person in this school. You should have no trouble getting through any of these walls using the Card, once you capture it."

"Oh. Okay, so how do I capture it?"

"Try using the Shield Card."

I ran into the room where the Card had gone and found myself in the library, where I used the Shield Card to capture the Through Card.

After a good hour of looking for Nicholas Flamel and wracking my brains as to where I'd heard his name before, I headed to bed, exhausted.

A few weeks passed, and finally, it was time for the Christmas holidays. Hermione was going to be with her parents, and Ron was supposed to be going to see his family. However, Hermione came into the Great Hall that day, pulling her case to find Ron and Harry playing wizard chess, with me sat watching.

"Kinght to E5." Harry said, staring at the board. His knight moved. Ron thought for a moment before making his move.

"Queen to E5." His Queen moved and smacked Harry's knight over the head, knocking it away.

"That's barbaric" Hermione remarked.

"That's wizard chess." Ron retorted. "I see you've packed."

"I see you haven't" she replied.

"Well, I was going to, then Mum and Dad told me they're going to visit Charlie in Romania, so I'm staying here for the holidays. He's studying dragons there!"

"Good." Hermione said. "You can help Harry and Jason then. They're going to the library to look for information on Flamel."

"We've looked a hundred times!" Ron complained.

"Not in the Restricted Section. Happy Christmas." she said, walking away with a smile.

"I think we've been a bad influence on her." I said, watching her walk away. The other two nodded their agreement.

The next morning, Harry and I awoke. I was full of excitement. It was Christmas Day! I couldn't wait to open my presents. I was just disappointed that I hadn't caught all the Cards - I was going to give them all a present. It didn't feel right giving the Cards I currently had a gift and not the ones I'd capture in future. I vowed once I had them all that I would get them all a special gift for Christmas.

We ran into the Common Room, where Ron stood by a Christmas tree, which had three piles of presents underneath.

"Happy Christmas, Harry. Happy Christmas, Jason." Ron said, grinning. He was wearing a jumper with a yellow 'R' emblazoned in it.

"Happy Christmas, Ron!" we chorused.

"Nice jumper." Harry said.

"Thanks. Mum knitted it for me. You've got one, too."

"I've got presents?" Harry was amazed, and I understood why. The Dursleys never got him anything for Christmas.

"Yeah."

"Oh" He ran downstairs and I followed suit. Ron sat on the sofa, munching Every Flavour Beans.

I turned my attention to my presents. From Dad and Tony, who had gone back home after a week or so, I had been given chocolates, and some books on Ancient Greece, Egypt, Rome and England. I smiled and put them aside and turned my attention to the next present - a box of home made fudge and a red jumper with a phoenix on it.

"Oh, that's from Mum." Ron said, nodding to it.

"That's really nice of her." I said, pleased. It was nice of her to give me a present, even though she had only met me once, and that was with Harry.

I opened my other gift from Hermione, which was a pack of Every Flavour Beans, some Chocolate Frogs, and a homework diary. Good. I'd been needing a new one. I picked up the last present, which was addressed to me from Madame Malkin herself. The note attached to it apologised for taking so much longer than usual, but she'd wanted to get it just right for me and hoped I enjoyed it. She'd also sent back the money I'd enclosed, calling it a Christmas gift.

My hands trembling, I opened the parcel, and a bundle of sleek black robe fell out. I unfurled it and gasped. It was the robe from my dream, down to the smallest detail. It was as black as night, with dragons curling up from the hem, their tails at the hem, and their snouts near the neck. It was beautiful.

"Woah! That's awesome! The Cards are definitely going to take you seriously in that!" Kero exclaimed, flying over from where he'd been sat with Ron.

I smiled and slipped it on and he nodded, impressed. I checked myself out in the mirror and was surprised by what I saw. I seemed. . . older looking, somehow. Wiser, stronger. It was like the magic within was radiating out.

"Woah. . ." I breathed. Ron also gasped as Harry opened his final present. Telling Harry to slip it on, we both gasped as he vanished.

"That's an Invisibility Cloak!" Ron gasped out. "They're really rare, and really valuable!"

We puzzled over who had sent it, as all the note said was that Harry's father had left it in their possession before he died and they thought it was time it was returned to him.

The day wore on until night eventually fell. Harry slipped on his Cloak as Ron slept. I stood and tapped my wand over my head, disappearing from sight altogether. I heard Harry gasp.

"It's as if you were wearing a Cloak!" he whispered.

"I know. Don't tell anyone. I'd rather people not know I can do such advanced magic."

"I promise." he said. The two of us headed to the Restricted Section of the library where we found nothing except a book that gave me a creepy feeling as Harry picked it up. I opened my mouth to tell him not to open it, but it was too late. A face appeared in the book and screamed at us. We screamed back and froze as we heard Filch ask who was there. Harry dropped the lantern and we ran for it, almost running into Snape and Quirrell who were arguing, Snape telling Quirrell he did not want him as his enemy.

Filch appeared with the broken lantern, and they all left, leaving Harry and I to dart into the nearest room. When we'd caught our breath, we looked round to find ourselves in a large, empty room, save for a large mirror in the centre of it. It was exquisitely made and looked very old. Harry took off his Cloak and walked over, and I dropped my spell and followed suit. Harry stood in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection.

". . . Mum? . . . Dad?" Harry whispered.

"Harry, what are you doing? We have to go - oh!" I suddenly sensed the magic surrounding the mirror, and my own magic had somehow enabled me to show what Harry was seeing. I had no idea how this was possible, but it was happening, so I just let myself roll with it, not sure when it would end.

In the mirror with Harry, though not in the room, were two people. A man with messy, dark hair who reminded me a lot of Harry, and a woman with red hair and brilliant green eyes - Harry's eyes. So these were Harry's parents.

Harry stared at them for some time before turning to me.

"I'm going to get Ron! He has to see this - see them!" Without another word, and ignoring my protests, he ran out under his Cloak, shutting the door behind him.

I sighed and walked over to the mirror and stared into it. Suddenly, in the mirror appeared a strange scene. I was holding the Clow Book, which had changed somewhat. It had a red cover, and Kero was no longer on the front of it. Instead there was a pair of wings curled around a star. To my surprise, it also had my name on it. The book opened, with the reflection of me holding it. Inside were all the Clow Cards. As I watched, they also changed, becoming a brighter red, and the magic circle on the back also changed, though I couldn't see properly to tell how much.

Kero hovered behind my reflection, beaming with pride, as did my father and Tony, who were also there.

"What the. . ." I looked up at the mirror and was surprised to see writing around the edge. I peered closer and read the words etched there.

"Erised stra ehru oyt ubec afru oyt on wohsi. . .?" I frowned, then the frown fell away as a thought hit me. This was a mirror. So that would mean. . .

"I show not your face but your hearts desire. Oh! So this is the Mirror of Erised I've read about!"

Suddenly, I sensed someone behind me. I whirled round and drew my wand. "Who's there?"

Dumbledore appeared, and I realised he'd been using the same spell I had.

"Well done," he said, smiling gently. "You're very good to notice I was there, even under the Disillusionment Charm."

"I sensed you there. What are you doing in here?"

"I might ask the same of you."

I looked him up and down. "Well, you would, but you already know why Harry and I were out at this hour. Don't you, Professor." It wasn't a question, more a statement, and Dumbledore chuckled.

"So you already know."

"Well, we know Fluffy is guarding the item from vault 713. What we don't know is what it is, but we're pretty close to working it out."

"I see." he smiled.

"Fluffy is so cute! Where are you going to keep him after this year is over?"

"He will be sent away to a special carer who cares for creatures like him."

"Aww! No! Can't I keep him? Please, Professor?"

Dumbledore actually laughed at that.

"I'm afraid he will have to be sent away. A giant three headed dog would cause some panic around here."

"Aww." Suddenly. I heard footsteps outside."

"We better hide, someone is coming." I said, casting the spell on myself once more. Dumbledore also vanished.

Harry and Ron rushed in.

"Come look!" Harry said, throwing the Cloak off the two of them. "Come on, come look! Look, it's my parents!"

Ron stood in front of the mirror with Harry.

"I only see me." he said, frowning.

Harry moved over. "There. You see them now, don't you? That's my dad -"

"That's me!" Ron exclaimed as his reflection magically changed the moment Harry stepped out of sight. He was now wearing a Head Boy badge and wearing the outfit of Quidditch Captain and holding the Quidditch Cup. "Only, I'm Head Boy. . . and I'm holding the Quidditch Cup! And bloody hell! I'm Quidditch Captain, too! Harry, do you think this mirror shows the future?"

I opened my mouth to explain, but Harry beat me to it.

"How can it?" he replied. "My parents are dead." he gave a sad smile. Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside and the two boys flung themselves under the Cloak and headed out of the room, leaving me with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore walked to the mirror and gazed into it. I was surprised to see a young girl appear next to him, along with a handsome woman and two smiling men.

"Ariana. . ." he said softly, gazing into the mirror hungrily.

"Is that your family, Professor?" I asked gently. He jumped about a mile into the air, looking round for me. I dropped the enchantment and he appeared relieved, then surprised.

"Jason, it's you. Can you. . . can you see what I see in the mirror?"

"Yes. For some reason, I'm able to see what others see in the mirror. I don't know why."

He looked interested, then turned back to the mirror.

"Yes, Jason. That is my family. My mother and father, my brother Aberforth and my sister, Ariana."

"They're dead, aren't they?"

"Yes." He replied. "Aberforth and I are the only ones left."

"I'm sorry, Professor. I know what it's like, losing family."

"I expect you do." he said, giving me a sad smile. "You had better head to bed now, you wouldn't want to miss class in the morning due to sleeping in late."

I smiled back and nodded then turned to leave. As I placed my hand on the handle of the door, a thought occurred to me and I turned.

"Professor?"

"Yes, Jason?" he said, tearing himself away from the mirror.

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. Never forget that." I said, having no idea where the words were coming from, but knowing they were important.

A look of surprise appeared on his face, followed by a smile as he nodded. "I'll remember." he said.

I smiled and walked out, weaving the Disillusionment Charm around me once more.

I headed to bed that night, wondering what the future would bring.

Hermione soon returned, and was disappointed to find we'd found nothing of Flamel, and horrified to hear we'd been out at night.

A week or two later, as we were sat in the library, reading, when Hermione came up with a large book and slammed it down on the table.

"I had you all looking in the wrong section!" she burst out. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading!"

"This is light?" Ron exclaimed, staring at the book, aghast.

"Well, yes. It has chapters on things we might need to know about in future." I replied. Hermione beamed at me.

"Here it is." she said, opening it. "Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"

"Of course!" I burst out. "I knew I'd heard of him before! There are legends about him in Muggle writings, too!"

"What's the Philosopher's Stone?" Ron asked. Harry looked curious too, and this time, I gave into the facepalm.

"Honestly!" I tutted. "Don't either of you ever pick up a book and read? The Philopsopher's Stone is a legendary substance that has astonishing powers. It can turn any metal into pure gold, though many Muggle men have said it only turns lead into gold, since lead is a base metal, but that's pure myth. It will turn any metal into gold. It is also used to make an incredible Elixir known as the Elixir of Life, which will grant the drinker immortality."

Hermione stared at me.

"Hey, I read too, you know!" I said defensively.

"Immortal?" Ron said.

"It means you never die." Hermione said.

"I know what it means!" he snapped.

"Shh!" Harry said, glancing round. Hermione turned her attention back to the book once more.

"The only stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist, who last year celebrated his 665th birthday!" She looked up in excitement as she realised what I'd worked out the moment she told us who Flamel was.

"That's what Fluffy's guarding on the 3rd floor. That's what's under the trapdoor! The Philosopher's Stone!" I hissed. We all looked at one another as we realised just how dangerous this was actually becoming. I thought having to be a Cardcaptor was troubling. This was looking to be far more dangerous.

I had no idea that very soon I would find a new Card in the one place I never expected to find it. The Forbidden Forest.


	12. Norbert and two more Cards

It was night time, and the four of us were headed to Hagrid's, determined to find more out about the Stone, and to warn him that Snape was going to steal it. All the way down there, I kept sensing something, but I wasn't sure what. I knew we weren't supposed to be out here at this time of night, so I'd taken the precaution of casting a Disillusionment Charm on myself.

Harry hammered on Hagrid's door, and he opened it, revealing himself to be wearing a large apron and oven gloves.

"Oh, hello." he said, sounding distracted. "Sorry, don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no fit state to entertain today."

He made to shut the door, and Harry, Ron and Hermione blurted as one.

"We know about the Philosopher's Stone!"

The door opened wider.

"Oh." was all Hagrid said before allowing them into his home. I followed them inside, looking round with a smile at the familiar surroundings. I'd only been in a few times before with Harry and Ron when they'd been in for rock cakes, which had almost broken my teeth, so I'd politely turned them down the second time.

"We think Snape's trying to steal it." Harry said, getting right to it and breaking me from my thoughts.

"Snape? Blimey, Harry! You're not still on about him are ye?"

"Hagrid, he's after the Stone. We just don't know why." Harry replied.

"Snape is one of the teachers protecting the Stone! He's not about ter steal it!"

"What?" Harry said slowly, unable to believe his ears. I didn't know why he was so surprised. The Philosopher's Stone was, after all, a legendary substance. If it wasn't well defended, then anyone could get at it.

"You heard." Hagrid replied. "Right, now, come on, I'm a bit preoccupied today."

He was acting very strangely, wearing oven gloves and an apron when the oven wasn't even on.

"Wait a minute," Harry said slowly. "One of the teachers?"

"Of course!" Hermione said from where she was sat in a huge armchair, looking positively tiny by comparison. "There are other things protecting the Stone, aren't there? Spells, enchantments."

"That's right," Hagrid grunted. "Waste of bloody time if you ask me."

As I listened, my attention was once more caught by the cauldron, which was now bubbling.

"Ain't no one gonna get past Fluffy. Not a soul knows how. Well, 'cept for me an' Dumbledore." he paused. "I should not have told you that. I should not have told you that."

The cauldron began to rattle.

"Oh!" Hagrid exclaimed, rushing over and plunging his hands into it and pulling something out. "Ooh, oh, oooh!" he whooped, placing it on the table. I saw now why he'd been whooping with pain. On the table before us lay a dragon egg. The temperature it must have been at must have gone right through the gloves Hagrid wore. As I examined the egg, I was shocked to realise it belonged to a Norwegian Ridgeback, a rare and dangerous breed of dragon. Where the heck had Hagrid got the egg?

"Uh, Hagrid?" Harry asked, sounding a little nervous. "What exactly is that?"

Duh, Harry. It's an egg. What do you know that lays eggs that Hagrid has always wanted? I rolled my eyes as he stared at it curiously. Did he never read?

"That?" Hagrid replied, sounding nervous himself. "It's a. . . it's, um. . ."

"I know what that is!" Ron burst out. "But Hagrid, how did you get one?"

"I won it," came the reply. "Off a stranger down t' pub."

That explained a lot.

"He seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter of fact." he continued.

The statement bothered me, but I couldn't quite put my finger on the reason why.

The egg suddenly began to rattle as cracks appeared all over it. We all stared as a tiny baby dragon emerged from the egg. It was just about the cutest thing I'd ever seen.

"Awwww! A baby dragon!" I want one!" I exclaimed.

Hagrid jumped and looked round.

"Jason? Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm here, Hagrid. I'm under a Disillusionment Charm. Dumbledore knows I go about at night under it. I'm looking for something important for him."

The moment I mentioned Dumbledore, Hagrid stopped paying attention and turned back to the baby dragon before him.

The baby dragon squeaked and slipped on an egg piece as the others stared.

"Is that a dragon?" Hermione said, staring.

"No, it's a duck." I said sarcastically. She glared somewhere over my right shoulder.

"That's not just a dragon!" Ron said. "It's a Norwegian Ridgeback! My brother Charlie works with them in Romania!"

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid muttered. I had to agree. She was adorable. Wait.

"Hagrid. This dragon is a girl." I said.

"What? No he ain't! Norbert's a boy!"

"Norbert?" Harry said disbelievingly.

"Well, he got to have a name, don't he?"

Ron laughed.

Hagrid tickled the dragon, who backed away and hiccupped, sending a small fireball into Hagrid's beard, setting it aflame.

"Ooh, ooh!" he cried, quickly putting the fire out with his hands. "Well, he'll have to be trained up a bit of course."

'Norbert' hiccupped again, and Hagrid glanced up at the window. "Who's that?"

We all looked round to see Draco Malfoy moving from the window and tearing off towards the castle.

"Malfoy." Harry said, sounding worried.

"Oh, dear." Hagrid said, sounding even more worried than Harry, and with reason. From what I'd read, you had to have a license to own a dragon, and Hagrid certainly didn't own said license.

We all hurriedly left Hagrid's hut. I let the trio hurry on ahead as I stopped to look around. I sensed it stronger than ever now. There was a Clow Card nearby, but where? My eyes took in the dark bushes nearby, black shapes against the night's sky. I secretly hoped the Card wouldn't show itself tonight as I really didn't fancy a hunt in the dark like this, not to mention it was beginning to get rather cold.

Looking round, I saw the trio were near the castle already, and rushed to catch up. I followed as they walked in, walking with them as they turned a corner into the first floor, making their way back to the Common Room.

"Hagrid always wanted a dragon. He told me so the first time I met him." Harry spoke up.

"It's crazy!" Ron said. "And what's worse, Malfoy knows!"

"I don't understand." Harry said, puzzled. "Is that bad?"

"It's bad." Ron confirmed.

As though waiting for this very moment, Professor McGonagall appeared in her nightgown, looking furious.

"Good evening." she said, coldly. Malfoy appeared quickly by her side, a smug smirk on his face. I held back from reaching out and punching the smirk right from his face.

McGonagall took the trio off to her classroom, and I followed silently behind, thankful for the Charm.

The trio stood in front of her desk as she sat at it, Malfoy stood to one side.

"Nothing. I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

I'd never heard McGonagall sound so angry before.

"Fifty?" Harry said in horror.

"Fifty each." she replied firmly.

Wow. One hundred and fifty House Points. It was a good thing I had the Charm on me, otherwise it would have been two hundred, and there was no way I could have explained to her that I was out looking for a Clow Card with Malfoy there.

"And to ensure it doesn't happen again," she continued. "all four of you will receive detention."

Malfoy nodded and smiled, then stopped as he realised what she'd said.

"Excuse me, Professor." he said, coming closer. "Perhaps I heard you wrong. You see, I thought I heard you say '. . . the four of us.'"

"No, you heard correct, Mr Malfoy." she replied. "You see, as honourable as your intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours. You will receive detention along with your classmates."

As Malfoy sagged a little, and the trio bit back grins, I thought it a little unfair that he, too, had not had points taken. As McGonagall had said, he, too was out of bed after hours. McGonagall dismissed them all, and they all left. As the door closed behind them, the Clow Card sense suddenly got intensely strong. I whirled round and gasped, staring out of the window and right at the one place I'd hoped not to have to go back to again.

"Who's there?" McGonagall demanded, drawing her wand and standing immediately.

I removed the Charm and she gasped. "Mr Avalon!"

"It's me, Professor. Before you take any more points, I was out looking for a Clow Card. I've been sensing one all day. I've only just now figured out where it's coming from. It's coming from inside the Forbidden Forest."

McGonagall gasped again, this time one of horror.

"But that's where the detention tomorrow night is going to be! Inside the Forest!"

"Inside the Forest? I'm sorry, but are you crazy?"

She gave me a look so cold, it could have frozen the lake outside.

"Well, come on, Professor. We get told we're not allowed in there."

"They will be," she said icily. "with Hagrid."

"Oh."

"Since there is a Clow Card in there, would you go with them tomorrow night? They may need your help. I do not like asking this, but since you are the only one capable of stopping the Card. . ." she trailed off.

"Sure. I'm going to need a reason to be with them though, and not a detention reason, either."

She nodded. "I'll have you help Hagrid with some things at break tomorrow, and send him a message saying you will be accompanying him into the forest to help out."

I nodded, thanked her and headed to bed, donning the Charm once more.

The next day, I was at Hagrid's hut at break. He was still upset over Norbert, and kept worrying aloud that the other dragons would bully him.

"He'll be fine, Hagrid." I said reassuringly. "Now, how about you tell me why we're going into the forest tonight?"

He gave a hearty sniff and began boiling the kettle for a cup of tea.

"It's the unicorns." he said.

"The unicorns?"

"Something's been hurtin' 'em. One's been injured, but I can't track it until night."

"Why not?"

"If ye were to go near a unicorn in the day time, especially if it was hurt, you'd be likely to get speared by its horn. If you go at night, it's more likely to be tired, and easier to get hold of and treat."

I nodded. That made sense, in a way.

"Okay, so, what could hurt a unicorn? Aren't they supposed to be really powerful magical creatures?"

"Aye, they are." he grunted. "Take something really evil to hurt a unicorn."

Then it definitely wasn't the Card. I relaxed a little, knowing the Card wasn't behind this.

"Um, Hagrid? Have you noticed anything. . . strange about the Forest lately?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation in the direction I needed.

"Not really." he grunted, shoving Fang away from the side as he jumped up to try and get a biscuit. "Get down, ye dozy dog!"

Fang came over to me and laid his great head on my lap with a sigh. I fussed him as I looked to Hagrid.

"So, nothing's changed? Everything is as it should be?"

He looked at me. "You're askin' a lot o' questions, Jason. What's goin' on?"

I really hoped Dumbledore and McGonagall had filled him in on the Clow Cards.

"Has Professor Dumbledore or McGonagall told you about me?"

"No, why?"

I sighed. This was going to take some explaining.

I pulled out The Windy, Shadow and Fly Cards.

"These are called Clow Cards. They're very powerful magical Cards that contain Spirits within."

"Spirits? You have ghosts trapped in those? Jason, that's just wrong! Let them go right now!" he thundered, looking horrified.

"No, no, you don't understand. I don't mean spirits. I mean Spirits. Capital 's'."

"Allow me to explain, Jason." Kero said, flying out of my bag. I stared at him for a moment before yelling in surprise.

"Kero!"

"Well, if you're trying to explain the Clow Cards, leave it to me!" he said. Hagrid stared at him as Kero began to fill Hagrid in on the Clow Cards - how each Card was really a powerful Spirit that had long ago been placed into the Clow Cards by Clow Reed himself, as if the Cards were left unsealed, they would cause chaos and havoc everywhere. Hagrid followed all this, then asked what I had to do with all this.

I jumped in at this point, explaining the Clow Book, and how my magic had released the Cards. Kero added that I was the most powerful person in the whole school, prompting Hagrid to give a disbelieving snort.

"No, really, he is." Kero insisted. "Wizarding magic is very different to that of a sorcerer, and Jason has both running in his veins. His magic is incredibly powerful, and its getting stronger every day."

I smiled. "Okay, so, you see, there's a Clow Card in the Forest, and Professor McGonagall has asked me to come with you all tonight to capture it."

"Why don't ye go in now?"

"I can't. See, some Clow Cards are only active at night, and won't show themselves at all in the daytime." I explained. Kero gave a proud grin at this. He'd told me enough times that Cards came out at different times, and besides, it made sense. The Cards each had a personality all of their own - why wouldn't they prefer being active at different times of the day?

"Oh."

"So, I'll follow the others tonight, under a Disillusionment Charm, and -"

"Wait, you can cast that?"

"Yes. I know it's not normal for a first year to be able to cast such an advanced spell, but Kero says it's to do with my sorcerer magic, and anyway, Dumbledore knows."

Hagrid nodded and, I continued.

"Anyway, I'll follow the others down, under a Disillusionment Charm, and then appear near you and act like I've been helping all night. You have a signed note from McGonagall - or at least, you will get one, so whoever brings the others down can't complain, or try to stop me."

Hagrid nodded again and I said my goodbyes and left, looking for the others. I soon found them all in the Common Room, moodily contemplating their upcoming detention.

"What do you think they'll make us do?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Doesn't matter," Ron said. "Everyone hates us, anyway."

Hermione sniffed. She'd been crying all night. She'd never lost a single house point before, and now she'd lost fifty, for trying to help.

"I don't hate you." I said reassuringly.

"No offence, but you're just one person. The whole of Gryffindor hates us." Ron replied.

I said nothing to that.

Night quickly fell. The day had gone by all too quick, despite no one in Gryffindor talking to Harry, Ron or Hermione.

That night, the trio got ready in the Common Room, preparing to go to their detention with Hagrid.

I stood nearby, watching silently.

"Let's go." Harry said. The other two followed him wordlessly, and Kero flew over and hid himself in my hood that I had on the back of my robe. I'd got sick and tired of getting wet in the rain when I forgot my hat, so I'd attached a hood to all my robes.

I took out my wand and tapped myself gently on the head. The now familiar feeling of an egg being cracked over my head appeared, and I silently followed the others. Filch was waiting outside the portrait hole with Draco, who still looked annoyed at being in detention.

"Hurry up, we haven't got all night." Filch grumbled. We all followed him, with him going on about the old punishments, which, quite frankly, sounded nasty. I couldn't beleive that students had been punished like that years ago. I soon tuned him out and turned my attention to the upcoming task at hand. I had no idea what Card I would be facing tonight, and I had to be ready for anything.

It occurred to me that I'd come a long way since starting Hogwarts and finding Kero and the Clow Book. Before now, I wouldn't have dreamed of walking round at night under an invisibility spell, let alone venturing into the Forest. I rather liked how I was now. I wasn't so afraid any more. In fact, I felt more confident than I ever had before. It was nice, really.

We finally made it outside, and Filch was going on about the old punishments still, saying how students were hung by their thumbs from the ceiling. Draco gulped at this, and Hermione hurried on ahead, eager to be away from the creepy old caretaker.

Hagrid appeared, sniffing, still upset over 'Norbert'. I quickly hurried behind him and into the shadows cast by the hut. I removed the Charm and readied myself.

"Oh, good God, man, you're not still going on about that bloody dragon, are you?" Filch sounded disgusted.

Hagrid gave another hearty sniff.

"Norbert's gone. Dumbledore's sent him off to Romania to live in a colony." he said.

"Well, that's good, isn't it? He'll be among his own kind." Hermione pointed out.

"Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania?" Hagrid said. Filch rolled his eyes. "An' what if the other dragons bully him? He's only a baby, after all."

"Oh, for God's sake, pull yourself together, man!" Filch snapped. "You're going into the Forest, after all. Got to have your wits about you."

"The Forest?" Draco sounded terrified. "I thought that was a joke! We can't go in there! Students aren't allowed! And there are -" A loud howl cut him off. "Werewolves." he finished with a gulp.

"There's more than werewolves in those trees, lad. You can be sure of that." Filh said. Draco looked even more frightened at this. "Nighty night." the caretaker said with a nasty grin, vanishing into the night.

"Right. Let's go." Hagrid said, taking up his crossbow.

"It's about time. I thought he'd never leave." I said, stepping forward into the light. Everyone jumped.

"Jason! I forgot ye were there!" Hagrid said.

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked, staring at me.

"Helping out. McGonagall asked me to help Hagrid with a few things tonight."

The trio looked at me and I simply smiled and followed them into the Forest. Not far in, Hagrid bent down and rubbed his fingers in some silver substance. I recognised it from the colour alone. Unicorn blood.

"Hagrid, what's that?" Harry asked.

"What we're here for. See that?" Hagrid said, indicating the blood smeared on his fingers. "That's unicorn blood, that is. I found one dead in the Forest a few weeks ago. Now, this one's been injured by something."

At that moment, Harry stared at something in the trees, and I followed his gaze to see a cloaked figure running - almost gliding away. At the exact same time, my senses kicked in as I sensed the Clow Card. It was everywhere. It was like we were inside the Card.

"So it's our job to find the poor beast." Hagrid continued, oblivious. "Ron, Hermione, you'll come with me."

"And Harry, you'll go with Malfoy and Jason." Harry nodded, and Draco grimaced.

"Okay. But I get Fang!" Draco said quickly.

"Fine. Just so ye know - he's a bloody coward." Hagrid said. The three of us looked at Fang, who gave a whine.

"Hagrid, wait!" I cried. He turned to look at me, as did the others.

"If you see, or hear, anything that you know isn't normal for the Forest, like maybe trees moving in ways they shouldn't. . . shout, okay?"

He looked at me in confusion, then realisation dawned as I mouthed 'Clow Card.' He nodded and walked off with Ron and Hermione, leaving Draco, Harry and I with Fang. Draco held the lantern, and walked off, leaving Harry and I to follow.

"So, why are you really here?" Harry asked in a whisper as we walked.

"Clow Card in the Forest, feels very strong." I whispered back. "McGonagall sent me to capture it and make sure you lot are safe."

He nodded.

"You wait 'til my father hears about this." Draco said. "This is servant's stuff!"

"If I didn't know better, Draco, I'd say you were scared." Harry said. I nodded in agreement.

"Scared, Potter?" he scoffed. He stiffened as a howl sounded in the distance. "Did you hear that? Come on Fang. Scared." he scoffed again and continued on. At that point, I sensed the Clow Card, and heard something move. Looking round, I saw trees blocking our route back. The Forest was sealing us in!

"Kero. . . what do I do?" I whispered.

"This is the Maze Card!"

"The Maze?"

"It's a very, very powerful Card. It's taken over the Forest. You can't cheat by using Jump, Fly or Sword, either, because the Maze will repair any damage done to it. You have got to find your way to the center of this maze. If you do that, you can capture the Card, but be careful. The Maze will move around all the time, making it almost impossible for you to get to the center."

"'Almost' impossible, Kero. Besides, I'm guessing if I don't capture this Card, we're stuck in here forever?"

"Bingo." he muttered.

That settled it. I had to find a way to get to the center of the Maze, while keeping an eye out for the unicorn on my way. Above all, I had to make sure Draco didn't see. I didn't trust him.

I pulled out the Key and thought a moment. I had to be sneaky here, otherwise I could end up getting hurt.

"Jason?" Harry asked.

"There's a Clow Card in here. It's the Maze Card."

"The Maze?" he asked, as I had done.

"It'll keep us trapped forever unless we can find the center. The problem is, it has a mind of its own and will keep changing the place around to stop us finding the center."

Suddenly, something occurred to me. We were in here for an injured unicorn. The Card knew that - it had heard us talking about it. So if the Card knew we were in here for an injured unicorn, and if there was only one. . .

"Oh key of Clow, power of magic, power of light. Surrender the wand, the force ignite. Release!" I cried, summoning the staff. Draco cried out and backed away from the light created by the magic circle beneath my feet.

"What the hell?" he demanded.

"Shadow!" I cried in reply, tossing the Shadow Card into the air. The spirit appeared before me, looking distinctly ominous in the darkness of the Forest. Shadow stood, awaiting my instructions.

"Shadow! Find the shadow of the injured unicorn and lead us to it!" I commanded. Shadow took off instantly, and I followed immediately, dragging Harry and Draco with me. Draco spluttered and yelled as I dragged him, but I ignored him. I had to get us out of here!

Shadow took us through twists and turns, and I noted that the Maze Card was having a hard time keeping up, trying to seal off our exits, but the second it did, Shadow would dart off in another direction, forcing Maze to then seal the path behind us, leaving the way ahead free and clear for a few precious minutes.

After many twists and turns, we finally came across a large clearing. Shadow was stood nearby, watching. As we stopped, gasping and panting, Shadow returned to its Card form and floated back over to my hand.

"Now what?" Harry asked as Draco stared at me.

"Now I need to find the Maze and capture it."

"You can't." Kero said, flying out to hover by my shoulder. Draco gave a shout of alarm, staring at Kero in shock.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my heart sinking.

"The Maze can't be captured from the inside - and we're inside."

"Oh no. . ."

Just then, the large, hooded figure from before glided over to the unicorn - and began drinking the blood from the wound on its side. We all gasped, and it turned towards us. Draco screamed and ran for it.

Harry fell over with a yell, his hand going to his scar. I stared at the figure, my wand in hand.

"Leave him alone!" I said. The figure kept advancing.

"I said. Leave. Him. Alone! Impedimenta!"

The spell knocked the figure backwards, sending it flying into some bushes. Harry stared at me as the figure got up and came at us again. Just then, a centaur landed in front of us and kicked the figure away.

"Harry Potter, you and your friend must leave." he said. "You are known to many creatures here. The Forest is not safe at this time. Especially for you."

"You're even famous in the Forest." I muttered, quietly surprised. Was there no one in the wizarding world who didn't know who Harry was?

The centaur nodded as Harry stood up.

"But what was that thing you saved us from?" he asked.

"A monstrous creature. It is a terrible crime to slay a unicorm. Drinking the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death - but at a terrible price. You have slain something so pure that from the moment the blood touches your lips, you will have a half life. A cursed life."

"But who would choose such a life?" Harry asked. I stared at him. Was he being serious? Who the heck did he think would choose a life like that?

"Can you think of no one?" The centaur asked.

"Do you mean to say. . . that that thing that killed the unicorn. . . that was drinking its blood. . . that was Voldemort?"

"Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?" the centaur asked in reply.

"The Philosopher's Stone." I replied. Suddenly, things began to make an awful lot of sense, and they weren't creating a pleasant picture.

Suddenly, Fang barked. We all looked round to see Hagrid stood there with Ron, Hermione, Fang and Draco.

"Harry! Jason!" Ron and Hermione called. I gave them a cheery wave to show we were unharmed.

"Hello there, Firenze." Hagrid said, greeting the centaur. So his name was Firenze, then. "I see you've met our young Mr. Potter. You alright there, you two?"

We nodded.

"Harry Potter. Jason. This is where I leave you. You are safe now. Good luck." Firenze galloped off, leaving the six of us to stare at one another.

"Well, come on, we better be going." Hagrid said, turning. As he did so, the Maze moved once more, trapping us in the clearing.

"What in the world?" he muttered, poking the trees now before him with his crossbow.

"Oh no."

"Jason. Didn't Kero say you have to be outside of the Forest to capture the Card?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but the Maze keeps sealing us in." I answered, searching for an opening.

"Look!" Hermione said, pointing. An opening had appeared, and we all rushed through it, then cried out in alarm. The whole world was upside down. Trees hung from the sky, which was now the ground, and the sky stretched out forever beneath us.

"I don't like this!" Ron yelled. Fang whimpered and tried to run for it, only to vanish.

"Of course! The Maze tricks you! Everyone! Take a step forward!" Kero yelled from my hood.

"No way! We'll die!" Draco shouted.

"Just do it!" I screamed, taking a step forward. The world fell away from me, and I landed with a thud on my knees on the ground before a tree. Fang immediately rushed at me, licking my face and whining, his tail beating the air.

"I'm okay, Fang, don't worry." I smiled.

The others soon appeared with thuds and grunts.

"We're near the exit leading to my hut!" Hagrid called, taking off, leaving us to follow. The Maze tried again to thwart us, but this time, we managed to get past everything it threw at us, including a room where we were walking sideways along the trees. It was all actually rather fun. Finally, we arrived back at Hagrid's hut, and I immediately turned to face the Forest.

"Maze Card!" I cried, raising my staff up into the air. "I command you to return to your power confined! MAZE!"

Light poured from the forest, sucked into the Card that appeared before me. The Card floated over and I took it, looking at it.

"Finally. . ." I muttered, looked at The Maze in my hand.

"Way to go, Cardcaptor!" Kero cheered from my shoulder.

"What's going on?" Draco asked, looking to me.

Uh oh. Now, how to explain without telling him anything?

"This is all a dream, Draco. Come on, do you really think stuffed animals can talk, and that there was a hooded figure drinking unicorn blood?" I said.

He looked at me. "I'm not stupid."

Saying this, he walked off.

I pulled out my wand, recalling a spell that could erase memories.

"Jason, what are ye doing?" Hagrid asked.

"He'll tell everyone." I said. "I only want you guys to know - no one else."

"You can't stop him telling." Ron pointed out.

"I can if he doesn't remember any of it." I replied, pointing my wand at Draco's retreating back and thinking of the spell. Light poured from the tip of my wand, into Draco's head, pulling the memories of seeing me using the Cards and summoning the staff. I lifted my wand and he stopped, shook his head and continued on.

"Jason. . ." Hermione said as we said goodbye to Hagrid and began to walk back to the castle.

"You know Malfoy. He'll tell everyone about my powers and about the Cards. I can't risk anyone else finding out. I only want people I know to trust, and he's definitely not one of them."

The others nodded. I wasn't happy about having to erase his memories, either, but I really couldn't have him telling the whole school.

We made our way back to the Common Room, where Harry and I filled the other two in on what had happened.

After Harry and Ron panicked, Hermione reminded us all that Dumbledore was the one person Voldemort was afraid of, and that as long as Dumbledore was in Hogwarts, Harry could not be touched, prompting a small smile from Harry.

That night, we went to bed, knowing there were only a few days left before the end of year exams. Though I was nervous about them, I was confident that all the extra studying I'd been doing would come in handy, and that I'd do well enough.

The day before the exams, I was wandering the corridors, searching for a Clow Card. I'd heard rumours of a singing ghost, but no one had been able to coax her out of hiding, not even the other ghosts. I'd heard she sounded like a famous singer called Celestina Warbeck. Just in case, I'd got a radio and found a station dedicated to the singer. As I was wandering near the Astronomy Tower, I heard singing.

"Oh, my poor heart, where has it gone? It's left me for a spell. . . and now you've torn it quite apart. . . I'll thank you to give back my heart. . ."

"Wow. . ." Whichever this Card was, it could mimic the songstress incredibly well. Though I wasn't much for that kind of music, I quite liked the song.

Following it, I came atop the Tower, staring at a ball of light from which the song came.

"Jason!" Kero burst out from my hood. "That's the Song Card!"

"The Song Card?"

"Yeah, it mimics the most beautiful voice it hears! It must have heard this lady's voice on the radio!"

I nodded and turned on the radio, which, by some happy accident, was playing the very song the spirit had just finished singing. The spirit began harmonising with the song and appeared before me. She looked like a beautiful woman with music notes on her dress. I sealed her immediately and turned off the radio, staring at the Card in my hand.

"Great going, Jason!" Kero cheered. "The Song Card can give you the ability to sing beautifully, or play an instrument like a pro."

"Cool." I said, walking back downstairs and heading for the library.

"Where ya goin' champ?" Kero asked, now back in my hood again.

"I want to brush up on some last minute things before exams tomorrow."

Kero groaned. "You already have nearly fifty inches of notes!"

"Yes, but you can never be too prepared."

I headed to the library, where I debated whether or not to go over the revolution of 1776, and whether I should look up Banishing Charms. After some time, I left with another fifty inches of parchment full of notes that I might need.

The next day, it was time for exams, and we all headed into the Great Hall, where we sat the exams. They were actually far easier than I was expecting, and all the studying and preparation I'd been doing really paid off, and I left with a large smile on my face.

"I've always heard that Hogwarts' end of year exams were frightful, but I found that rather enjoyable." Hermione said. The four of us had not long since finished our exams, and were walking outside.

"I couldn't agree more. There was no need for me to research Banishing Charms, or the revolution of 1776!" I replied. The three of them stared at me.

"What?"

"Jason, we don't cover Banishing Charms until our fourth year." Hermione said.

"Oh."

Ron shook his head. "Well, you two can speak for yourselves. All right there, Harry?" he added, looking at Harry, who was rubbing his forehead.

"My scar. It keeps burning."

"It's happened before." Hermione pointed out.

"Not like this." Harry retorted, rubbing his scar again.

"Perhaps you should go see Madame Pomfrey." Ron suggested.

"I think it's a warning. It means danger's coming." Harry said. He gave a frustrated groan and rubbed his scar again, then stopped dead, staring at Hagrid's hut, where Hagrid was sat playing a flute.

"Oh, of course!" he said, taking off for Hagrid's. We all followed.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, hurrying to keep up.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd that the one thing Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger shows up and just happens to have one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets? Why didn't I see it before?"

We reached Hagrid, and without hesitation, Harry came right out with it.

"Hagrid. Who gave you that dragon's egg?" Hagrid stopped playing. "What did he look like?" Harry persisted.

"I don't know. I never saw his face. He kept his hood up." he replied. We all looked at one another.

"This stranger, though. You and he must have talked." I said.

"Well, he wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I told him. I said, 'after Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem.'"

"And did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Hermione asked.

"Well of course he was interested in Fluffy!" Hagrid burst out. "How often do you come across a three headed dog, even if you're in the trade? But I told him. I said, 'the trick with any beast is to know how to calm him. Take Fluffy for example, just play him a bit o' music and he falls straight to sleep."

We all stared at him.

He'd told this complete stranger how to deal with Fluffy, who was guarding the Philosopher's Stone? Oh, Hagrid!

"I shouldn't have told you that." he said. We took off, ignoring his shout as to where we were going.

We took off to see Professor McGonagall, who dismissed our claims of someone trying to steal it, and we left. Snape made us jump, coming up behind us in the hallway as we were talking, wanting to know why we weren't outside.

"What do we do now?" Hermione asked as Snape walked away.

"We go after the Stone." Harry said. "Tonight."

I nodded. I had no idea the adventure that awaited us that night.


	13. Fluffy again and the Philosopher's Stone

That night, Hermione met up with us on the staircase in between the boys and girls dormitories. We crept silently down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. It was paramount that we did not get caught. If Voldemort got his hands on the Stone, then Harry would be in terrible danger - not to mention a whole lot of other people.

As we were sneaking stealthily through the Common Room, Kero hidden in the hood of my robe, the Cards in a pocket I'd hidden in a fold of my robe, there was a sudden croak that made us all jump. We looked round to see Trevor the toad perched on the arm of an armchair that had its back to us. He blinked at us and croaked once more.

"Trevor, shh!" Ron hissed. "You're not supposed to be here!"

I opened my mouth to tease him about talking to animals, when a figure stood up from the chair. Neville stepped out into the light.

"Neither are you," he said. "You're sneaking out again, aren't you? You're going to get Gryffindor in trouble again!"

"Neville, listen, we -" Harry began, before Neville cut across him.

"I won't let you! I-I'll fight you!" he said, raising his fists to us. Hermione stepped forward, her wand out.

"Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this." she said sadly. "Petrificus Totalus!"

The Full Body Bind curse hit Neville square in the chest, and he fell to the floor on his back, as stiff as a board, his eyes staring straight up. We had to step over him to get out, and did so, apologising to him, explaining we had no choice, and we'd soon explain things to him. The last part was said by me, as I carefully stepped over him.

"Neville, listen. Before I leave, I'm going to remove the curse. However - I'll do it only if you swear on that which is most important to you that you won't tell anyone." I said, looking him in the eyes. "Blink twice if you agree to this, once if you don't."

I could see his brain working as he stared at me, and finally blinked twice. I nodded and walked away to the portrait hole and thought of the counter-curse and flicked my wand. I heard Neville getting up and left quickly, flicking my wand at the portrait, sealing it shut temporarily. I hoped that Neville would keep to our agreement, but, if he did not, hopefully, the portrait not opening would deter him, and buy us some time.

The four of us crept along the corridors - the trio under Harry's Cloak, and me under a Disillusionment Charm. The hallways seemed much more eerie that usual, but I gathered it was because we were about to do something incredibly dangerous. I had no idea what awaited us below the trapdoor. Every teacher had placed some kind of protection around the Stone, and we were going to have to get past them all in order to get to the Stone. What we would do then, I had no idea. I feverently hoped an idea would surface before we got into too much trouble.

Making our way back to where Fluffy was located, I patted another pocket, feeling the lump there. I smiled, hoping Fluffy was going to be a little more welcoming this time.

I tried the handle of the door leading into his room, and found it unlocked. We all entered to find Fluffy fast asleep, and looking absolutely adorable, his heads on his paws, snoring quietly. A large silver harp played to itself nearby. Harry took the Cloak off them, and I took the Charm from myself, becoming visible once more.

"Snape's already gone down!" Harry said, running to the trap door and opening it. Hermione and Ron followed him.

As they were staring into the dark hole, the harp stopped playing, and Fluffy twitched. I smiled and stepped back, opening my mouth to warn the trio. As I did so, Fluffy lifted his heads and leant over them. A string of saliva dropped onto Ron's shoulder. He groaned in disgust, then looked up and screamed, as did the others. Quickly, one by one, they jumped into the hole. Fluffy turned his attentions to me, and I pulled out my secret weapon. All three heads locked onto it.

"Wanna play, boy?" I asked, waving the tennis ball gently. His heads followed. I tapped it with my wand, making it bigger with the Growth Charm, Engorgio. Once it was big enough, I lifted it with the levitation charm we'd been taught by Flitwick and sent it soaring across the room. Fluffy caught it as it rebounded off a wall, and immediately, all three heads snapped for it.

"Hey!" I called. "Fetch! Good boy!"

He turned his heads to me and growled low.

"Fetch it here, then. Good boy!" I called, hoping I had been right about this.

One of his heads barked, and he stepped forward and dropped the drenched ball in front of me. I smiled and reached up, patting the snout of the head that had dropped it.

"Good boy!"

All three heads barked this time, and his tail thumped the wall. Now he wanted to play. I used a spell I'd found in the library. It could create copies of an item. Using the spell, I created two more balls, and threw them. Each head caught one, and then Fluffy lay down to chew on his new toy - or rather, toys. I walked over and patted the snout of the head nearest to me.

"That's a good boy, aren't you? I wish I could take you home with me, but our house is a bit small. I'm going to miss you, Fluffy."

Kissing his snout and causing his tail to thump the wall, I summoned my staff and pulled out a wooden flute that Harry had been given by Hagrid as a Christmas present.

"Song! Grant me the ability to play Fluffy a beautiful lullaby!"

Song's power flew into me, and suddenly, it was like I was born to play the flute. Raising it to my lips, I began to play. The moment the first beautiful note left the instrument, Fluffy's eyes began to droop. Within a minute, he was asleep. I stopped playing and flicked my wand at the harp, which began to play once more, lulling Fluffy back into a slumber, as he had begun to awaken the moment I stopped playing. Tucking both flute and staff away, I jumped into the hole and landed on something soft, that immediately began to wrap itself around me gently. Looking down, I saw I was in the grip of Devil's Snare. Immediately, my mind emptied as I began to panic.

"Jason!"

I looked round, searching for Hermione. I heard her, but didn't see her.

"Hermione?" I shouted.

"Remember Herbology!"

I thought back to our lesson on Devil's Snare. It liked the dark and damp. . . but hated light, so. . .

"Lumos!" I cried, raising my wand. The light drove back the plant, and I slipped beneath it's clutches, landing on the ground below, where the trio were stood.

"What took so long?" Ron wanted to know.

"I wanted to play fetch with Fluffy."

They all stared at me.

"Snape's trying to steal the Stone, and you're playing fetch with a giant, three headed dog?" Harry said disbelievingly.

"He was lonely! Besides, whoever's after the Stone hasn't got it yet." I pointed out.

"How do you know that?"

"Don't you think we'd know if the Stone had been taken? Whoever's after it will be at the last obstacle as we speak. It must be a very hard obstacle."

The other three pondered my words, and we moved on.

In the next room was the sound of beating wings. We all looked up to see things flying round in the air with brightly coloured feathers.

"Birds!" said Ron.

We crossed the room to the other side, where the door leading out of it was. We tried the handle, and it was locked, and not even Alohomora would work.

"Hang on. . ." Harry said, looking up once more. "They're not birds - they're keys!"

"One of them must unlock this door." I said, searching for a likely key.

"We're probably looking for an old brass one, like the handle." Ron said.

"Since when were you a key expert, Ron?" I wanted to know. He simply rolled his eyes at me.

Harry took up a nearby broom and took to the air. Immediately, the keys swarmed after him.

"That one!" I shouted. "The one with the broken wing!"

Harry took off after it, ignoring the swarming keys, despite them trying to skewer him.

After several tense seconds, he grabbed the key and flew down to the door. As Ron tried to unlock the door, the keys flew at us. Acting fast, I pulled the Time Card from my pocket.

"TIME!" I cried. The Card activated, and froze all the keys in place. Unfortunately, it also froze the others, too, so I made it unfreeze them. Ron unlocked the door and we tore through.

We stopped at the sight of what seemed to be a graveyard, but, upon closer inspection proved to be a gigantic chess board. The door to the next room was across the board. We ran for it, only to be stopped by the pawns, who drew their swords, and only sheathed them when we stepped back.

"So, we have to play our way across." I said, looking around. There were a fair few black pieces in ruins, and Ron directed us to a space each. Hermione was a queen's side castle, Harry was a bishop, I became a pawn, and Ron became a knight.

"Ron, you don't think this will be like wizard's chess, do you?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"You there, D-5!" Ron called to a pawn. It moved ahead, until it was diagonally adjacent to a white pawn, which destroyed it with a swish of its blades.

"Yes, Hermione. I think this will be exactly like wizard's chess." Ron said, looking grave. I gulped. This was going to be a difficult obstacle.

With Ron directing us, we soon began to gain the upper hand. Finally, Ron said there was only one more move to make and then we would win.

"Ron, no!" Harry and I shouted as one, as we realised what move had to be made.

"What is it?" Hermione shouted from her spot near the middle of the board.

"He's going to sacrifice himself so we can win!" Harry shouted.

"No! You can't!" Hermione shouted.

"I have to!" Ron retorted. "Harry, it has to be you who goes on ahead. Not me, not Hermione, not Jason - you! When the Queen takes me, it'll leave you free to checkmate the King."

With that, he made his move, and the Queen destroyed his horse, sending him flying to the floor, and out cold. Hermione made to run over, but I stopped her, explaining that we needed to keep playing, or we would lose. Harry stepped forward in front of the King.

"Checkmate." he said. The King dropped his sword.

We rushed to Ron, who was out cold.

"Listen. Get him to the Hospital Wing, then send an owl to Dumbledore. I don't know how long I can hold out against Snape." Harry said to us.

"I'm coming with you." I said. "You might need me."

"You're both great wizards, you know." Hermione said to us.

"Not as good as you." Harry replied.

"Me?" she scoffed. "Books, and cleverness. There are more important things, like friendship and bravery and - oh Harry, Jason, please be careful!" she gave us both a hug and a kiss on the cheek and we smiled before standing and running to the door on the other side.

The door locked itself behind us and we turned, yanking at the lock. I even tried Alohomora, but to no avail.

"Looks like we're going on, then." I muttered, turning round.

Standing not far from us was an enormous troll, far bigger than the one we had faced in the girl's bathroom.

"Oh god."

"Now what?" Harry whispered to me.

I pulled out my wand, thinking. I needed a spell to knock it out. I'd not read up much on trolls, apart from mountain trolls, and this one was not a mountain troll - at least, I didn't think it was. For the first time in my life, I had no idea what to do, and it scared me. I was beginning to understand just how out of my depth I was here.

"Jason, what are you doing?" Harry hissed, staring at the troll, which began to advance on us with a dull roar.

"I have no idea." I replied. My mind raced as the troll lumbered closer and a spell flashed into my mind, but would it work? I quickly flicked my wand at the troll, who went flying backwards into a wall and slumped to the gorund, out cold.

"I-it worked!" I gave a shaky laugh. I hadn't been expecting the Impedimenta spell to work so well.

"Great going!" Harry said as we hurried on. Just before we entered the next room, I quickly cast the Disillusionment Charm on myself and went through the door with Harry. Inside the room, stood by the Mirror of Erised was none other than Professor Quirrell.

"You!" gasped Harry.

I crept away from him as Quirrell turned to him.

"It can't be. It was Snape, he was the one. . ." Harry continued.

"Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he?" Quirrell mused. All traces of stutter were gone from his voice. I knew I'd been right not to trust him!

"Next to him," Quirrell went on as I neared him. "who would suspect p-p-poor s-s-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?" he practically spat the words, a hard look in his eyes. This was getting dangerous. I had to get the Stone, then get Harry and myself out of here and away from this maniac!

"But that day, during the Quidditch match. . . Snape tried to kill me!"

"No, my dear boy, I tried to kill you. And trust me, if Snape's cloak hadn't caught fire and broken my concentration, I would have succeeded - even with Snape muttering his little counter-curse.

I stopped dead at this. Snape had been trying to save Harry? So he didn't hate him then.

"Snape tried to save me?" Harry was as shocked as I was, if not more.

"I knew you'd be a danger, right from the off - especially after Halloween." Quirrell said.

So he let the troll in, then.

Quirrell went on to explain that he had let the troll in as a diversion, but Snape didn't trust him. While the other teachers hurried to the dungeons, Snape had headed to the third floor corridor to head him off, and, from that point on, never trusted him.

"But he doesn't understand." Quirrell said, turning and facing the mirror. I stood by his side and watched as his reflection held in his hand the Stone, smiling like crazy. He then presented it to a hooded figure and was rewarded with money and power, this shown by him cackling silently. The guy really was a nutjob. "I'm never alone," he went on. "Now, how does this work? I see what I desire, I see myself holding the Stone, but how do I get it?"

Suddenly a voice spoke from nowhere. "Use the boy."

I jumped, and narrowly missed falling into the mirror. Where was that voice coming from?

"Come here, Potter! Now!" Quirrell snapped. Harry walked over and stood in front of the mirror. I watched as his reflection pulled the Stone from his right pocket, wink, then replace it. I immediately looked at Harry, who was gently touching his left pocket. He gasped, and I knew he had the Stone.

"What is it? What do you see?" Quirrell demanded immediately.

"I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore. I've won the House Cup." Harry lied.

The voice sounded immediately. "He lies."

"How the heck do you know?" I demanded loudly, then quickly covered my mouth. I hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"Who's there?" Quirrell spun round and narrowly avoided smacking my in the eye. I backed away quietly.

"Let me speak to the boy. I will find this bodiless voice."

"Master, you are not strong enough!" Quirrell protested.

"I have strength enough. . . for this. . ."

Quirrell turned around and unwrapped his turban. I stifled my gasp, biting my tongue in the process. Ignoring the blood that filled my mouth, I swallowed and stared. The guy had another face sticking out of the back of his head! Talk about freaky, even for a world of magic!

As I thought this, I realised who the face was. Voldemort. He was like a parasite, living off Quirrell, using unicorn blood to sustain himself. No wonder he looked so ugly. He was cursed by the unicorn.

Harry ran for it, and Voldemort screamed for Quirrell to stop him. Quirrell snapped his fingers and fire erupted all around the edges of the chamber, preventing Harry's escape. Voldemort tried getting the Stone from Harry, by telling him lies about how he and Harry could do great things if Harry would join him and hand over the Stone. Harry called him a liar, and, enraged, Voldemort shouted for Quirrell to kill him.

Quirrell soared into the air, and, thinking fast, I grabbed hold of his foot and swung him round, smashing him into a wall. He got up, slightly dazed, looking round the me. I was even more thankful for the Charm than ever.

After looking around the room for the mystery assailant and failing to find them, Quirrell soared into the air once more and flew at Harry, choking him. I ran over and stopped when Harry grabbed Quirrell's hand. Quirrell screamed and yanked his hand away. To my great surprise, and, from the look on his face, Harry's, too, Quirrell's hand was a pile of ash, which fell to the floor, leaving him with a single hand.

"What magic is this?" Quirrell screamed.

"KILL HIM!" Voldemort screamed from the back of Quirrell's head. Quirrell dived for Harry again and Harry put his hands on Quirrell's face, turning that, and Quirrell's entire body to ash. We watched as his body crumbled to ashes. We gave a sigh of relief, and I took the Charm off myself.

"You did it." I said, staring at the ashes.

"No. We did it. Thanks, Jason." Harry said, turning to look for the Stone. I helped him. He'd dropped it during the fight.

"What are friends for?" I asked, quoting Ron from earlier in the year. We both smiled, then Harry shook his head.

"I mean it. Even before we found out we were wizards, you spoke to me, made me feel like I could maybe have a friend."

"Maybe?" I said, eyebrow raised. "You would have been my friend whether you liked it or not. I wasn't going to let them treat you like rubbish forever."

He smiled at me again.

"In fact, when this year finishes, I'm going to come over and invite you over to my house, okay?"

Harry's face lit up with a smile. "Okay."

We heard a noise and turned to see the pile of ash moving.

"You have got to be kidding me. . ." I breathed, staring in shock as Voldemort's face formed in the cloud of ash that rose into the air. He gave a silent roar and soared towards us. I was stood behind Harry, and tried to pull him away, but Voldemort soared right through Harry and neared me.

"NO!" I screamed , putting my hands out like a shield. To my surprise, Voldemort bounced off the 'shield' and flew through a nearby wall.

"Wha. . .?" I looked at my hands in shock, then at Harry, who was out cold on the ground.

"Harry!" I ran towards him, and Voldemort came flying through the wall and right through me. It felt like a ghost had gone through me; my insides were like ice, and I could feel my body shutting down from the shock. I heard a noise behind me and turned to see Dumbledore come in. He stared at us in shock.

"Profes. . .sor. . ." I tried to reach out to him, but my arms were like lead. I saw darkness creeping up on me and surrendered to it, giving in to the peaceful oblivion of sleep.

I awoke hours later in the Hospital Wing, with Kero hovering anxiously over me, along with all the Cards I'd captured. I sat up, and the Cards flew to me and nestled in my hand. I smiled.

"I'm alright now."

"I've been so worried, Jason. Look how worried the Cards were. Why didn't you use one of them against him?" Kero asked.

"I didn't want to risk him finding out about the Cards. I mean, he's not going to stop trying to come back, is he? If he eventually ever does come back, then it's best he doesn't know about the Cards, or me."

Kero nodded, saying what I was saying made sense.

"Where's Harry?"

"He just got let out. You'd better see if you can go, too."

"Madame Pomfrey?" I called. Kero flew down and sat by my hand. Madame Pomfrey appeared, and, after looking me over and giving me some chocolate, let me leave. I got dressed and walked out of the doors, right into the trio, who had been coming to find me. Hermione hugged me, while Ron shook my hand.

We talked for a while about what had happened, and then headed for the Great Hall. The whole Hall was decked in green and silver to commemorate Slytherin's win of the House Cup. I was disappointed, but not too much. They had won fair and square after all. I was just glad I hadn't lost any House Points.

Dumbledore announced the places in the House Cup. We were last, with 312, followed by Hufflepuff with 372, Ravenclaw with 426, and Slytherin were first with 472.

Wen he finished his announcement, the Slytherin table broke out into cheers and applause.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin. Well done, Slytherin. However, recent events must be taken into account. . . and I have a few last minute points to award."

Everyone fell silent at his words. What events was he talking about? He couldn't mean. . .

"First, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool intellect when others were in great peril, I award Gryffindor House 50 points."

Our table broke out into applause. 50 points? That was a lot! Hermine had gone red, a smile on her face. Harry patted her arm.

"Good job." he said.

"Secondly, to Mr Ronald Weasley, for the best played game of chess -"

Ron stared at Harry and I and mouthed 'me?' We grinned and nodded.

"-that Hogwarts has seen these many years. . . 50 points."

We cheered. Another 50!

"Third, to Mr Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage. . . 60 points."

We all burst out into cheers. We were tied with Slytherin!

"Fourth. . . to Mr Jason Avalon. . ."

I turned my head so fast to stare at him that I felt my neck crack. Why was he giving me points? I didn't do anything!

". . .For showing that appearances can be deceiving, 40 points."

The table broke out into immense cheering. We'd won! We'd won the House Cup!

"And finally -" Dumbledore began over the noise. We all looked over.

"It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to our enemies, but even more so to stand up to our friends. I therefore award 10 points to Mr Neville Longbottom."

Neville sat there in shock while we all shook his hand and ruffled his hair, cheering and laughing. The whole Hall, save for some of the Slytherins, joined in, cheering.

Once the feast was over, we headed upstairs to finish packing.

"I can't believe we won! Why did he give me 40 points anyway?" I mused aloud.

"'No idea." Harry said as we walked into the Common Room. I ran upstairs and packed quickly, making sure the Clow Book was in my bag so I would always have it with me.

Once we were all ready, we headed for the train station.

"Come on, Harry." Hermione said as we neared the train.

"One moment." Harry said, walking over to Hagrid. I followed.

"Thought you were leaving without saying goodbye, didja?" Hagrid smiled and took out a red book from one of his numerous pockets. "Here, this is for you."

Harry opened the book to reveal moving photographs of him as a baby with his parents.

"Awww! Look how chubby you were!" I teased. He went red, then shook Hagrid's hand and hugged him as a thank you.

"Oh." Hagrid was momentarily surprised. "Go on. Go on with you."

Harry released him.

"Listen, Harry," Hagrid said. "if that dolt of a cousin of yours, Dudley, gives you any grief, you could always, um, threaten him with a nice pair of ears to go with that tail of his."

I laughed.

"But Hagrid. We're not allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts. You know that." Harry replied.

"I know that." Hagrid replied. "But your cousin don't, do he?" he chuckled.

"Well, actually, Harry. We're not allowed to use our wands and spells outside school. There's nothing about me using my magic though, is there?" I winked. Harry's eyes widened as he realised what I was talking about. Hagrid laughed as he understood, then Harry and I joined in. We turned and left for the train, waving as we left.

"It feels strange to be going home, doesn't it?" Hermione asked as we boarded.

"I'm not going home. Not really." Harry said with a smile. I knew what he meant. Hogwarts had become like a second home.

After a long ride, in which the four of us spoke with Kero about the Cards and my ultimate role in them. Kero informed the others that once I collected and Captured all the Cards, I would be the most powerful sorcerer in the world, and, he added, I was already far more powerful than everyone in Hogwarts, even more powerful than all the teachers combined. I was amazed at this part. I didn't know I had so much power in me.

"So I'm really that powerful?"

"Yes, you are." Kero nodded.

"Then I promise to only ever use my magic to help people."

"Atta boy, Jason!" Kero high fived me.

The train pulled up and we all got off. I met Dad and Tony and hugged them both before saying goodbye to Ron and Hermione. Harry walked with me, as his family were waiting near the entrance.

"Talk to you later, Harry?"

"Yeah." he smiled at me.

"I'll come get you later, and you can come to my house. I've got the latest video game."

"And some rollerblades." Tony spoke up. I whirled round.

"You got me rollerblades! Yes!" I turned to Harry in excitement. "We can take it in turns! Have you ever been rollerblading before?"

Harry shook his head, grinning.

"Oh, it amazing! It's so much fun! It's like flying, but on the ground!"

"That does sound fun." Harry said.

"I'll come get you once we pack our school stuff away." I said, before leaving for home with Dad and Tony. I was oblivious to the blue butterfly that had been following me since I left Hogwart's grounds.

I arrived home and packed my things away in my room. I saw the box on my bed containing the rollerblades. They were inline ones, too, just like I'd been wanting! Black and silver, they looked very nice. I put them in a bag and ran downstairs.

"Dad! I'm going to fetch Harry and go play outside!"

"Okay! Be back before dinner. Bring Harry if you want." he called back from the kitchen, where he was sat eating a muffin and writing yet another thesis.

I grinned and slipped outside, heading for Privet Drive. Arriving at Number Four, I saw their car was in the driveway. They were home. I ran up to the door and knocked.

Vernon Dursley answered.

"Yes?"

"Hi, is Harry home? I'm a friend, from school."

He went purple.

"There is no Harry here!" he roared in my face. "Don't you come near me or my family!"

"Okay, hold on a second." I held up my hands to stop his tirade. "One, I KNOW he lives here because I live nearby and I've seen him going out with you several times. Two, I'm not going to do anything to you or your family. I just want to talk to Harry and ask him to come over. Finally, number three, the biggest one of them all; my dad's non-magical, just like you."

He shut up at my last words, then turned and bellowed up the stairs.

"BOY! Get down here!"

Harry came trudging downstairs. His face lit up when he saw me.

"Told you I'd come fetch you. Come on, we're going rollerblading."

Harry left with me, smiling.

"Thanks. It was getting really boring in there."

"It's okay. You wanna go first?"

He looked at me. "Really?"

"Sure." I handed him the skates and watched him put them on. He took off, wobbly at first, but with my help was soon zooming around and laughing.

We swapped over half an hour later and I took off down an alley, with Harry following. We soon arrived at a clearing near the park. I skidded to a halt and turned to face Harry.

"Wanna go for a real ride?"

"Where?"

I grinned and summoned my staff, followed by activating the Jump Card and small wings appeared on my rollerskates.

"Grab on." I told Harry, who hopped on my back, piggyback style. I jumped - and took off, higher than the houses in one jump. Harry whooped in excitement as we landed safely atop someone's house, just behind the chimney.

Kero flew out of my pocket.

"You should be careful, Jason. It's still light out, and people might see you."

I nodded and hopped back down, landing in the park. No sooner had I put the Jump Card and my staff away, than Dudley and his cronies appeared.

"Nice skates." Dudley said, nodding to them.

"Thanks. You're not having them." I replied.

"Hand them over." he ordered.

"No." I said.

Dudley nodded to Piers, who walked over and suddenly grabbed my arms behind my back. I struggled. Harry ran over to help, but Gordon grabbed him. Dudley walked over and faced me.

"One more chance. Hand them over."

"Get lost." I replied, glaring at him. He punched me hard in the stomach, winding me, and I gasped in pain. Malcolm and Dennis walked over and yanked at the rollerblades, taking them from me.

"Thanks. They're mine now, so remember that." Dudley said.

"You. . . bloody. . . coward. . ." I managed to get out. He kicked me, hard and I gasped again. I felt the magic rising within me along with my anger. Who did he think he was? He couldn't get away with this! Those were a present from my dad!

I struggled to my feet, the magic circle from the Clow Book appearing under my feet.

Dudley's face contored with fear.

"Show them. . . their greatest. . fear. . ." I gasped out. The Illusion Card flew from my pocket and glowed. The kaleidoscope pattern appeared before them all, and each of the boys stared at it before screaming and running, dropping my skates in the process.

Mirror activated itself and a copy of me appeared, a concerned look on his face.

"Are you okay, Jason?" he asked anxiously.

"I'm fine. He's just a ruddy coward, that's all. Thank you, Illusion. Thanks for your concern, Mirror."

Illusion turned back into a Card and returned to my pocket. After hugging me, Mirror did the same, and Harry and I returned to my house. On the way, I stopped and lifted my shirt. A large, ugly looking bruise was already showing. I groaned as we walked in. After tea, Tony took Harry home, and I feigned tiredness and headed to my room to bed. Kero flew out the moment I closed my door, and I hugged him close.

"Why am I so weak, Kero? I could have stood up to them."

"You did stand up to them. You did very well." he reassured me.

"Kero, I had to use the Illusion Card to get myself out of it. If only I knew how to fight. . ." I sighed and laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Kero fluttered to a drawer and opened it. I emptied it out for him and made a little spot inside so he had his own 'room', just like at Hogwarts. As I began to drift off to sleep, a blue butterfly flew in and landed on my bare hand. Immediately, sleep claimed me, and I found myself at Platform Nine and three quarters. I wandered around and found myself face to face with Tony, and his friend Jack.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked in surprise.

"We work at Hogwarts now. Duh." Tony said.

Kero flew out to join us.

"Hi, Tony." he said.

"Hi, Kero." Tony replied.

"What. . .?" I was completely confused. I heard a noise and looked round. When I looked back, Tony and Jack were gone.

"What the -"

"Don't you get it, Jason?" Kero asked. "This is a dream. . ." the word echoed, and I found myself atop the roof of Hogwarts, watching myself face off against a dark silhouette. It looked pretty serious.

I sunk to my knees, near tears, wondering what the heck was going on, and what it all meant.

"Jason. . ."

I looked up to find myself stood there, dressed in my red and black robes, the ones I'd had made for Card Captures.

I stood up, face to face with myself. He took my hands and smiled.

"It'll be alright. I promise. When you find the light inside the dark, everything will start to fall into place. Just keep doing what you're doing, and you'll be fine."

"What are you -"

"Jason! Use the Time Card, hurry!" Kero's voice hissed in my ear. Confused, I obeyed, and the scene froze - and vanished as I awoke.

"What the. . ."

"Jason! Quick! The Dream Card is under your hand!"

I looked down to see the blue butterfly from before trapped under my hand. I tapped it with my staff.

"Dream Card! I command you to return to your power confined. . .Dream Card!"

The butterfly became a Card and floated to my hand. I grabbed a pen from my bedside table and wrote my name on it.

As Time unfroze, a wave of exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks, and I passed out, having just enough time to slip the Dream Card into my drawer in the bedside cabinet.

I had no idea that the dream I had just had meant far more than I could have ever imaged, nor that the message I had given myself was a warning of what was to come.


End file.
